Trust In The Lord’s Plan, Even If You Must Ask ‘Why?’

Word-Of-The-Day: ’But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.’ (Jeremiah 17:7); ‘And without Faith (Trust) it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.’ (Hebrews 11:6)

One of the biggest headaches that we have with our two cats, Leta and Lacey, is when their annual appointment with the veterinarian comes due. We leave the cat carrier out year-round so they see it, and they walk around it, occasionally nap around it (never in it) and generally ignore it. However, they have this sense when one of them has to go see the vet and one has to get in it.

Without anything said, both of them go into an ‘alert’; it could be that we start closing the doors to the rooms so they are limited to the living room and kitchen. Then they have nowhere to hide. The cat with the appointment seems to know it is she that will go into the carrier, and the other cat, though cautious, will get out of the way. (It’s uncanny…)

Leta or Lacey gets caught, goes into the carrier, and then we head straight to the vet. The cat gets examined and usually receives a booster shot for one of the vaccines necessary for a healthy cat life, then goes back into the carrier (usually a bit more willingly as she knows she’s going back home), and then at home is released. Usually, Leta or Lacey runs out and goes into hiding for a few hours, followed by ignoring us in anger for another couple hours before coming back to cuddle with either me or my wife.

While the other cat thinks she got away, we ‘wash-rinse-repeat’ with her later in the year, and the process replays itself. With both felines, each of them likely wonder, ‘why did you do this to me, Pappy and Momma?‘ when it comes to them, especially in that post-veterinarian visit phase when they’re mad and don’t want to socialize. But they soon are overcome by that trust they have in us, that they are loved by us and provided with all of their needs.

Like Leta and Lacey, our Trust in the Lord must be based in the knowledge that God loves us unconditionally, and that love must be reciprocated unconditionally.  Leta and Lacey may not understand why they need to visit the vet or get shots, but they understand we love them, so they love us, despite the pain of getting shots and getting a bit angry afterwards. 

Even more so are our lives in relationship with the Lord; we don’t always understand why we must go through trials or heartache.  Why does God allow trials in the life of His people, so many who suffer from illness or injury, or losing their jobs, or to go broke over closed businesses?  Why does God allow the persecution of His church around the world, including here in the US?

We must Trust in the Lord, to have the Faith in Him that perhaps these things are our ‘shots’; we need to either be humbled or reformed to make us better suited for God and His needs.  I have experienced the ‘why did You, Lord?’ in jobs and situations, only to later say, ‘I now see why You did that, Lord!’  I left my government contractor job at US Central Command in Tampa in September 2000 to go to a smaller IT firm in Sarasota, and helped to witness to a gay man, and a recovering drug addict.  Then I was asked to come back to the government contractor firm, but I resisted until the Sarasota firm started to go downhill.

I went back to the government contracting firm on 10 September 2001.  I got a furlough from the smaller firm as I was handing in my 2-week notice, to close the deal, so I couldn’t go back to it.  ‘Why did You take this option away, Lord?’  Then the events of 11 September 2001 occurred, and through that I was able to help and lead the IT support effort for US Central Command, which led to a blessed career of promotions, and ever-increasing responsibilities, and driving me into getting my MBA – and the opening to witness to many others. 

In 2009, I was blessed to be named the company’s Deputy Southern Region Manager, which lasted all of four months until a reorganization was announced company-wide, removing that position.  ‘Why did You take this away, Lord?’  But during this time, our contract to support US Central Command ended with many laid off, but I was already working proposals at this point and I ended up at US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), where I was able to witness to many people there – another field of crops! 

Then the SOCOM contract ended, and I no longer asked ‘why’ to the Lord as I understood ‘why’, and until I retired, I was able to witness to others, whether doing proposal and program start-up work, or going on-site to other places to witness to other people, like US Southern Command in Miami. Each time it appeared a ‘negative’ turn was taking place in my life and career, God made it a blessing, for His purposes and for me as well.  

Every time the Lord gave me a painful ‘shot’, it later turned out to be for my own good.  So I must Trust Him and as I am in turmoil and pain, I must love Him unconditionally and know that despite the temporary turmoil that God is in control.  We cannot be fair-weather Christians, or like Peter who took his eyes off Jesus to see the storm around him and sink into the sea.  We must look past the storm and continue to look at and for Jesus, to follow Him and Trust Him.