Every morning, I start my day with a cup of coffee and my bible app reading plans. If you are a regular reader, you have seen me mention this in previous posts. On the homepage of this app, there are 3 sections labeled Daily Refresh, Guided Scripture and Guided Prayer.  The Guided Scripture section allows you to save the daily prayer and invite others to pray with you. These saved prayers will pop up, in random order, in the Guided Prayer section.   I usually save ones that are particularly meaningful to me at the time; they are a great reminder of what I need to pray for, what was on my mind previously, and how God continues to show up in my life. At the start of this year, I deleted some of my saved prayers, so they only included 2024, with one exception.  I couldn’t bring myself to delete the prayer on July 14^th of 2022. This prayer was the day before the “the accident”. The event that changed so many lives and brought so much sorrow.

When I started this blog site, I began by interviewing women, with different stories, in different walks of life, and in different times in their lives. One of them was an interview with a woman who lost her adult son and his wife in a car accident, leaving their 3 kids behind. That woman is my sister and, on that day, her life as well as her husband, their grandkids, and so many of their family and friends changed in a drastic way.  So much has happened since then, and that may be a follow up to her story for another time. She and her husband, as well as the kids have been so resilient. The faith they cultivated out of sheer desperation is incredible. It hasn’t been easy, nor will the pain ever go away. They all continue to navigate their new normal, but God is at work.

The prayer the day before the accident would serve as a reminder that I didn’t realize just how much I would need in the days ahead. It stated: “God, every word from you has purpose; you always do what You say you will do, but sometimes, your methods are not my methods. Sometimes, I find myself wondering and waiting on you to act. When I start to wonder what you are doing, please remind me that you are working even as I wait. You are faithful, and I will trust in you. In Jesus’ name.” In the days and months to come, I would need a reminder that God’s methods are not easily understood by us. I would also be reminded that we are not guaranteed tomorrow, and we do not know the day we will leave this earth.

God is working, even when we are in the thick of life and dealing with a new normal. He is faithful and he will make a way when it seems impossible. He is with us in our mountain top moments and in the valleys of trials.  He draws us to him, gives us an Advocate to guide us, and does what he says he will do. He never changes his desire to have a relationship with us and will never stop pursuing us.  Nothing is a surprise to him, and he can use anything to glorify his name and his kingdom. We need only to trust him, turn to him, and surrender to his will. After all, he sent his son to die for our sins so that we may have eternal life with him (John 3:16) and we can be assured that no word from God will ever fail (Luke 1:37).