“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you”.  Proverbs 4:25  I was writing that verse in my journal one morning when suddenly I heard my son cry out “my hand!!”.  I ran upstairs to check on him crying out in his sleep that his hand hurt.  I started rubbing his back and telling him that it’s going to be okay when I realized what was going on.  His hand must’ve fallen “asleep” and we all know that tingly, pins and needles feeling when something in our body “falls asleep”.  So as he was coming out of a deep sleep, all he felt was the pain and discomfort of his hand “falling asleep”.  I gently told him “it’s okay, your hand just fell asleep.  You’ll feel okay in a short while.. It’s only temporary”.  And then I felt God speak to me in that same moment. “This is what I’m trying to tell you, Anita.  The discomfort you’re feeling is only temporary.  It’s going to be okay… I know the outcome, I know what this is… you don’t have to be afraid… it’s only temporary”.  

As I was rubbing my son’s back and comforting him, I felt God rubbing my back and comforting me simultaneously.  I could feel him telling me that this is what he does for each of us… that while we are upset and screaming about the pain and discomfort we are in… how we can only feel what we are feeling in that moment, God is telling us that he knows the outcome.  I knew the outcome of my son’s hand falling asleep, that while it is uncomfortable, it will be over soon and he’ll be able to fall back asleep.  The discomfort my son was feeling was very real, but me knowing the outcome of his hand hurting in that moment was also very real.  As an adult, we’ve experienced the numbness feeling of our limb falling asleep and also know that the discomfort does go away- that even if it’s uncomfortable in the moment, the pain does go away.  I imagine us crying out to the Lord in our situations and the Lord is there holding us, rubbing our backs, telling us that “it’s going to be okay, I know the outcome, you’re going to be okay”.  In the moment of me telling my son that he’s going to be okay, he has one of two options… to either trust me that it’s going to be okay or to not trust me and continue to scream and yell about the pain.  He either trusts what I’m saying is true or trusts in his own thoughts.  We have that same option with God.  

While I realize this analogy may sound silly to some, it was very real and raw for me to hear from God.  It’s true.  While we don’t always physically see, hear, or feel God tangibly, his presence is very real.  He is with us in the unknown and the uncomfortable.  It’s a simple analogy, but while God is extremely complex, he also makes things very simple and understandable to us.  Many times God tells us “Do not be afraid, for I am with you”.  He commands us to not fear and replaces it with “I will be with you”.  It’s that simple.  We can trust that whatever we are walking into, that we don’t have to be afraid, because God is with us.  Complex because all we see is the unknown, the long road ahead, the things we will have to do, but simple because he will be with us, so we don’t have to be afraid.  He’s got us.  He’s taking care of us.  He knows the outcome.  We have to choose to trust Him and His Word.  We don’t have to worry about all the little things that we will have to do, we just have to trust that He will be the one guiding us and that we will be okay with each guided step. 

Going back to the beginning of this story, I was writing Proverbs 4:25 because I’ve been needing to remind myself of God’s provision in my life.  I wanted to remind myself that as I look straight ahead, as I fix my gaze before me, I can trust that God is lighting that path and that God is the one walking with me.  I can’t keep looking behind me (I don’t want to be like Lot’s wife, am I right?) But God tells me to look straight ahead and I don’t have to be afraid.  God tells us to not turn to the right or to the left, but to go where He is leading us through obeying Him.  As I seek the Lord in His Word, I’m reminded that wherever I’m going, as long as I’m letting him lead, I can trust the outcome.  That’s the God we serve.  He wants to lead us in the right direction, he wants to comfort us and tell us that it’s going to be okay because He knows the outcome.  Romans 8:28 tells us “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.   I love God with all my heart, so I can either trust that or not.  “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9  Again, I can either trust that or trust myself.  One is a great comfort and one will induce fear.  God is with us through the unknown and discomfort.  The choice we have to make is whether we will trust Him with that or we will lean on our own understanding.