When I learned about the death of my neighbor's daughter, I complained to my sister about my sorrow at not knowing my neighbors, and at not being there to comfort them in their grief. And my sister said very matter-of-factly, "If God had wanted you to be there, He would have put you there."
If God had wanted you to be there, He would have put you there.
What blessed words of reassurance reminding us all that wherever we are, whatever situations we may find ourselves in or whatever events we miss in life, it is all through the grace of God's will. What peace can dwell within our souls if we only remember that God will use us as He sees fit and all we have to do is lovingly and trustingly submit to His actions in our lives.
So often my insecurities and pride cause me discomfort. I find myself in situations where I feel as if I don't fit in, I don't belong. I wonder how in the world I ever came to be in this particular place at this particular moment and I long to run away, to escape to some private hide-away where I can be alone and won't have to face my responsibilities. It is then that I only have to remember that God put me there. He is always with me and I can carry on.
When I don't feel smart enough, beautiful enough, young enough, old enough, rich enough, strong enough, brave enough, holy enough, to accept my present situation in life, I need only remember that God put me there as I am not as who I think I should be. He is always with me and I can carry on.
Remembering that God put me there will bring peace without regret. No more will I wonder why I wasn't given a particular blessing or why I wasn't chosen to endure a certain hardship. I will no longer wonder why I was asked to lead or to follow, to go out or to stay in, to celebrate in a moment of joy or to cry in a time of sorrow. Learning to accept God's will for my life in each individual situation that I may find myself in will only bring me the peace that can be found from letting go in complete submission to His divine plan.
If God had wanted you to be there, He would have put you there.
Well, God put me here and after reading this post I can certainly see why. This is something I needed to read. I could very much relate to this post, Anne.
ReplyDeleteThis is VERY good. Thank you, my friend.
Mary- we seem to be in the same state of mind and heart recently. Thank you so much for allowing God to put you here! I love having you!
DeleteAnne...I am happy your comments are open. I have missed my blogging friends much! This was a beautiful post and a reminder much needed.
ReplyDeleteI am quietly tucked away here now: http://desertofmyheart.wordpress.com/
Slowly making my way back after a very long Lent!
Bless you my friend!
Theresa, Thank you so much for the link-I can't wait to visit! I'm so glad that your words are still available and that you are willing to share them with me! Happy Easter my dear! I pray you feel the light of His resurrection shining in your heart!
DeleteWOW, my Mom sure is AWESOME!! Annie, this post could have been written by me. You are so right on about things, and are so good at putting your thoughts into words and on paper. God love you and keep you.
ReplyDeleteYour niece
Jenny
Jenny, you're right-your mom is awesome! God love you and keep you also!
DeleteWell, Anne. A sister who is ALMOST as smart as you, and who has a wise daughter, too! Not only does God put you in places as He deems necessary, He puts you in families the same way. And He sure picked a good one for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you have such support behind you. You need not worry about how you are doing in life; I'm sure they will honestly tell you.
Thanks for this comment Tom! I like your emphasis on the word ALMOST!!! Yes, God did certainly bless me with a wonderful family and they are always honest with me!
DeleteWe all need a good post like this every once in awhile to knock some sense into us. Glad your back.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kam! Blessings to you and H. in your Franciscan ministry!
DeleteAnne, thank you for sharing such personal thoughts. I could relate to this so much...having tried all of my life to "fit in," and made efforts to go where I thought I should, and to be like others, which never worked either.
ReplyDeleteWhat wisdom from your sister! I will commit her words to memory. I am so much happier when I allow myself to simply be me.
It's comforting to know that others struggle with this too. Thanks for an awesome post!
Patricia xoxo
Patricia, thank you for your always kind and sweet words. When I think about how often I brushed aside advice from my siblings I wonder how many nuggets of wisdom I neglected to follow. I'm going to have to pay better attention to their words of experience in the future! God didn't bless me with five sisters for nothing! I join you in working to just "be" and to stop pushing for something that God never intended for my life.
DeleteWell ... after a long absence of visiting your Blog ... somehow today I got drawn to visiting here. I saw your comment on someone else's Blog and thought "I haven't been to see Anne for a while ... Better go now!"
ReplyDeleteSorry for not visiting you sooner. I'm glad you've re-opened your Comment Box so we can all talk and visit each other. It's good to visit friends every now and then. And make new friends too through Comment Boxes.
I'm pleased to see you're still Blogging. Thanx.
God bless.
Victor, I'm so glad that you felt a nudge to re-visit my blog! Thank you for always being a joyful light of Christ in the blogosphere!
DeleteOh my goodness, what wisdom! I can't tell you how many times I beat myself up over these things too...not doing this or not doing that. What a sweet comment by your niece too:) Thank you for sharing...I too, like Victor, always seem to pop over and hear just what I needed!
ReplyDeleteTiffany, It never fails to amaze me to learn that others struggle with the same things that I do! We really are all so very similar, we Christians striving for holiness, aren't we? Jenny is a sweetheart-I've been very blessed! Thanks for your note!
ReplyDelete