So, last year was a really rough year. I have had a string of really rough years in a row, but last year shook the foundation of my future in a different way than others have. Last year started rough when major changes were made to my job. Things just progressed from there…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the year progressed, I was confronted with a major concern to my health. I have had a number of major health issues over the years that have left my future uncertain, from surgeries to broken necks, but this one was a little different. Apparently I had something that brought the concern of a heart attack in October. The diagnosis was never confirmed as to what actually happened. What I know is that there were some changes to my heart that gave the appearance that I had a heart attack. The scary thing about that is that I don’t know when it happened and I might have just plowed through it. Am I really that dumb? Proud? Unaware???? I have no idea about that one, but it really affected me and made me consider my mortality and legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That wasn’t all that happened to leave me feeling uncertain about the future. In November I found out that they were doing away with my department, and that I would be laid off at the end of the year. After 20 years in the same career there was a lot of comfort in that stability. Now it was going to be removed. I felt pretty shaken by all of the events of the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coming into 2019 I usually have a sense of what the Lord is doing and some type of theme to focus on for the year. This year was completely foreign to me. I felt a glimpse of what Abram (Abraham) must have felt in Genesis 12:1 when God told him to go to “a land that I will show you,” only I didn’t get the rest of the promises of being made a “great nation” and being a blessing to all families. I just got the “go into the unknown” part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have learned and been reminded of some things along this journey into the unknown. I’ve been worried about jobs and bills, but Jesus says, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” (Luke 12:24) He provided me with enough to cover the time I was without a job. He also provided me with a job very quickly. So, He literally provided me more than I would have had before. Of course, He kept this theme of uncertainty going by sending me into a new field, but He has brought me this far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this great unknown ahead of me, I am comforted by some passages that I am just going to share. Life is still uncertain. I don’t know where this journey is going. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can hold to these in the middle of the unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter 5:7 “Cast your cares on God. He cares for you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew 6:31-34 “Don’t worry about things. God will take care of you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psalm 29:11 “The Lord gives His people strength.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. The Lord is going ahead of you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psalm 55:22 “Give your cares to God. He won’t let you fall.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James 1:2-4 “When your faith is tested, your endurance grows, and you will grow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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So, last year was a really rough year. I have had a string of really rough years in a row, but last year shook the foundation of my future in a different way than others have. Last year started rough when major changes were made to my job. Things just progressed from there… As the… Read More »When Things are Uncertain<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ministry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtbmichigan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}