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May 17, 2018 |
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6 (NIV)
I wasn’t in the mood to be messed up.
I put my head against my bedroom wall, closed my eyes and whispered, “There’s no way.” It was late summer of 2003 when my world collided with what seemed like an impossible invitation from God: Adopt two teen boys from war-torn Liberia.
All the reasons why this wasn’t a good idea tumbled before me. Honest reasons. Understandable reasons. Solid reasons.
Missionaries would be much more qualified. Missionaries with grown kids. People much more spiritual than I was. People much more gentle and patient enough to do this sort of thing.
Not this disorganized woman who originally thought Liberia was in South America.
Not this mom who already felt overwhelmed with her three kids. How in heaven’s name would we add two more?
Not someone who paid so many late fees at the library they should have named a shelf after her. Maybe two.
Definitely not me.
But it was me.
The invitation was mine.
And I knew it.
No matter how many times I whispered over and over, “There’s no way,” this nagging sense of possibility wouldn’t leave me. It wove its way through every fiber of my being, until I stood up and shifted everything I thought my family would be with one weak whisper, “Yes.”
I can honestly say there were moments of sheer joy where I felt reassured I’d heard God right.
But there were many other moments when life felt chaotic, messy and really hard. There were tears. Moments when I loved my five kids, but I didn’t like them very much. Moments I wondered if I'd heard God wrong.
And there were more times even after we adopted that I simply said, “There’s no way.”
There was no way we could overcome a medical diagnosis one of my boys received. There was no way two teenage boys who tested at a kindergarten level could catch up in two years and be ready for middle school. There was no way I could be patient enough to educate them at home during those two years.
But every time I said, “There’s no way,” I’d remember Jesus calling Himself, “the way …” (John 14:6).
John tells us that Jesus is the way to salvation. Through Him we have access to the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18) who gives us patience, guidance and peace. All of which I needed. Desperately.
Yes, Jesus was the One to follow. He was the One who would guide me each day. He was the One I needed to pour out my heart to in prayer. He was the One to listen to. And He was the One who reassured me with many promises in the Bible.
One of those promises was Isaiah 58:10-11, “And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail” (NIV).
I could be a light rising in the darkness. I could be full of life … like a well-watered garden. I could be refreshing like a spring whose waters never fail. Me. Crazy, incapable, crying-in-my-closet me. If I let Jesus be my way and do what He was asking me to do, these things could be true for me.
And they can be true for you as well.
There might not be a way if you look at your situation with only human reasoning and calculation. But if you let Jesus’ truth and promises fill you, you'll find a different way. A good way. A sure way. His way.
Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me that You are the only true way. Help me see this every day as the circumstances of life surround and sometimes overwhelm me. I desperately need Your help as I learn to say “yes” to Your calling on my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (NIV)
Psalm 35:27, “But give great joy to those who came to my defense. Let them continually say, ‘Great is the LORD, who delights in blessing his servant with peace!’” (NLT)
RELATED RESOURCES:
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REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Do you have a situation in your life causing you to say, “There’s no way …”? How does looking to Jesus to be the way change your perspective? We’d love to hear your story in the comments.
© 2018 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
630 Team Rd., Suite 100
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
Originally published Thursday, 17 May 2018.
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