On December 12 the National Park Service posted a news release to inform the public that Yellowstone’s interior roads would open on December 15, just as predicted.
Yellowstone’s fall and winter travelers knew when the road crews would start to let the snow build, when they’d get dangerous, and when they’d be safe for snow machines.
They knew.
Sometimes I wish I knew. You know, about changes, about transitions. About the things I’m waiting for and the ones I’m dreading. I imagine that a little more information would help me hang on. Often, a more accurate assessment would be that I desperately crave more information because, well, because I want to know. Just a little more.
Just a little more information. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Maybe.
But maybe I know enough. Maybe we know enough.
We know that our little ones grow older before our eyes. We can’t miss our body’s intermittent reminders that we’re doing the same thing. We see our children go through rough patches just as we did, and we know that, like our parents before us, we’ll tread some deep water.
Advanced notice doesn’t seem to help. Knowing there’s a baby on the way or the nest is about to empty doesn’t make it easy.
We live lives of constant fluctuation. Change lurks somewhere around the bend. Either the road will begin to clear or begin to get rough, at least until the next transition brings more change.
We also know that there is only One who never changes.
Every January these words from Oswald Chambers turn me from what I want to know to what I need to know: Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is.
And that’s enough. All the rest? That’s too much to handle.
Read part 1 of Roads In Transition here.
Sharing Roads In Transition, Part 2 at Unforced Rhythms and Thought Provoking Thursday.
This is the 2nd time I’ve read this post, and it’s just as good on the 2nd read. I am so thankful He never changes. More of Him in 2015. That’s my prayer.
Well thanks for those encouraging words, Lyli. He never changes. And because I sometimes get tossed around by the winds, I am grateful that he doesn’t. More of Him. Amen.
Natalie – this is a wonderful truth right here >>> “God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is. And that’s enough.” Amen! So grateful to have been your neighbor at Lyli’s this morning!
Enough. That is so true. So true. Thanks for being here.
Natalie, I tried commenting once and WP kicked me off. So weird. But I love this about Him – how what He does changes, but how His character and His heart are so trustworthy, how they anchor my soul. Also – side note: I think I need to read me some Oswald Chambers this year… Bless you, friend.
An anchor indeed. It seems that he created us to need one.
“God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is.” True, so true…And the more this truth finds acceptance in me, the more I see what a liberation it is. A comfort, ironically, not to know, though it doesn’t always feel this. I appreciate your words today.
It doesn’t always feel like a comfort, does it? It’s a paradox, one of the many in the life of faith. Thanks for being here today.
You touch a nerve with this one, Natalie. I am notorious for always wanting more information. But you’re so right that what God gives us is always enough. We don’t have to see the complete picture. I’m learning to make more peace with not knowing and it feels good.
It feels good. . . That brought a smile to my face.
Amen to that Natalie! Stressing over God’s “plan for me” results in a freeze-frame life. He opens the door everyday to be salt and light–to be His reflection to a fallen world. The road, with all the twists and turns, can be traveled with peace and joy because we have an unfailing GPS. Blessings my friend . . .
Unfailing…what a good thing to know about Him.