No God, Not Another Valley!

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Recently, a dear friend sent me Pete Wilson’s book, Plan B. I often skim through a book before I read it, and as I flipped through the pages of this one a passage stood out: “Even in the midst of Plan B, you really have only one task, one calling. And that is to do what you would do if you were confident God was with you.”

I’ve been facing some health issues this year. At the first evaluation, the doctor warned me that it could be cancer. I was terrified of how that diagnosis might change my life. It seemed to take forever to get the answers I needed, and while I waited for doctor’s appointments and test results, I begged God for healing.

Funny, how we rush to God in a crisis and long to be in His presence. It’s as if nothing else matters then but our relationship with Him. What better than a crisis for the Potter to work His clay?

Please, God, I begged, “Heal me, and do it instantly so I won’t have to blah…blah…blah…” My symptoms continued. They even got worse. I wondered if God heard me. And if He did hear me, then did He care? I’d been through a whole string of valleys, and as I faced another I began to fear God and expect the worst from Him. I doubted that He loved me.

What you would do if you were confident God was with you?

There was the question leaping out at me from the pages of a book, and I had to answer it.

If I were confident God was with me, I would be assured that no matter how He answered my prayers, His answer would be right and good. As I pondered God's greatness, I thought of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on that night when they took Him away to die for my sins. Jesus said to His God, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Jesus was confident that God was with Him, and He was ready to accept God's will, whatever it was. Jesus had the most intimate relationship with God. He was God! How then could I not follow His example and believe that God was with me even if my diagnosis was cancer?

That image of Jesus in the Garden led me to pray differently about my circumstances:

“Father, please don’t allow me to face yet another valley, but I'll accept whatever you decide.”

Praying that way brought me to a place where I realized that if I were confident God was with me, then I believed that He loved me. I knew that whatever He decided, I would have the strength to face it. I had confidence that He would provide for my needs, but in ways I couldn’t begin to imagine.

My relationship with God changed once I turned my thinking away from the what ifs and toward what I would do believing fully in His existence and His love for me.

We learn in the valleys.

Yesterday, I had minor surgery to remove a polyp that was almost certainly benign. The biopsy results will confirm it, but whatever the result it doesn’t matter as much anymore. By changing my thinking, I learned that God does love me. He may not always answer my prayers in ways that I want and expect, but He always provides for my needs according to His perfect will.

Romans 12:12 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

“Even in the midst of Plan B, you really have only one task, one calling. And that is to do what you would do if you were confident God was with you.”

I urge you to renew your mind. Get out of the pattern of worldly thinking and imagine living life with the utmost confidence that God is with you, now and forever. Believe me. If you do this, you will experience God working His plan in your life -- His good, pleasing and perfect will.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”