By Andrea Goebel
God’s Way
Summer break had just started, and I had big plans for our family: I would teach the kids Bible lessons daily, they would do work in their summer academic books, and we would plan a couple of small family getaways.
Two weeks into my children’s summer break, my appendix ruptured, and I was hospitalized for seven days. Family and friends provided meals and childcare and helped with household chores so I could rest when I came home. My husband took time off work to care for the kids and help me recover, and he maintained all of his normal responsibilities at home as well. Our family dynamic shifted entirely, and life felt off-balance for all of us.
As I recovered and gradually resumed my normal workload, I struggled to adjust to a routine that had been second nature just weeks ago, and I couldn’t understand why I felt that way. I witnessed friends making their own summer plans, and I wished our family could experience fun times, too.
That’s when a few truths hit me, and I realized God was speaking to me.
Two words stood out: grace and humility.
God wanted me to give myself grace to acknowledge my own situation and understand my needs for rest and healing. He didn’t want me to compare myself to others.
God wanted me to humble myself and recognize that his plans were greater than mine. While our family might not get to do everything we had hoped to at the start of summer, we would see what God had waiting for us.
I reminded myself of Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you — oracle of the Lord — plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.”
Sometimes, life deals us setbacks, and we cannot do anything about them. It’s valid to feel frustrated, sad or a vast array of emotions when something unexpected happens. And as we experience those emotions, we may ask God why things turned out the way they did. When those moments happen, it’s important to remember who is our way-maker and ask ourselves what He might have in store for us instead.
Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that even when we experience disappointment in life, God has plans for our good. We can trust Him through the hard times because we know He will lead us out of them into something far greater than we can imagine.
The succeeding verses offer us great insight and hope as well: “When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me — oracle of the Lord — and I will change your lot” (Jeremiah 12-14).
God spoke these words through Jeremiah to those exiled in Babylon, and He promised that He would still care for them during their trials, and eventually, He would bring them out of that place.
Though our circumstances are different, these words speak the same truth to our hearts: God will always listen to us and help us. We just have to seek Him, listen to Him, and be patient as He works His plans for our good.
Though my family’s summer has begun differently than I had imagined, we see God’s blessings through our situation. Precious time together, appreciating simple things like snuggling on the couch to watch a show, catching lightning bugs at dusk, and singing songs at bedtime. Things I took for granted before my sickness slowed us down. The friends in our community who have prayed for us, delivered us meals, and visited with us at our home. People whose kindness and generosity I now cherish.
God’s love for us is abundant. In the midst of our trials, the more we lean on Him for support and trust Him to help us, the more we will see His wonderful gifts in our life.