Our problem with today is we can’t see beyond it. We’re focused on today, but there’s so much more than today. Here’s precisely what God asked me to tell you today: THERE IS A GREAT FUTURE FOR YOU BEYOND THIS.
God has gone before you and designed a future just for you that reaches far beyond this day. And while you can’t see it, he promises it will be worth living for. Honey, you don’t want to give up here! You don’t want to quit here. You don’t want to settle here and decide you’re just not trying any more. You may feel like that’s what you want to do, but the author of your story and designer of your destiny has so much more for you.
Romans 8:18 “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” The pain you feel right now cannot compare to the joy that is coming. Yes, this pain is real. No, what you’re going through isn’t easy. But, this isn’t the end. Your future reaches far beyond this and that future is dripping with joy.
I’ve walked through some major tragedies with people I love. Moments where their whole world came crashing down. Moments it was hard to breathe. Moments they didn’t want to go on. But each one of them did go on. God provided supernatural strength to continue and to heal. And then they stepped into a future where joy returned. Days where they laughed again. Happy days returned.
And my sister, the same will be true for you. Happy days will return. If you find yourself in the midst of those hard days in the valley where the shadows have threatened to overtake you, please know this valley will not last forever. Shadows will not always darken your path. God is going to carry you through this and bring you to new mountain tops you have never explored before.
God is in the great business of taking the broken pieces of our lives and creating something of pure beauty. He works in the mosaics of our lives. Shattered becomes sacred. Broken becomes beautiful. Pieces become priceless perfection. The master fits it all together, piece by piece, to become his masterpiece.
What you’re going through today may not have been in your plans, but it fits in God’s mosaic. Let this broken piece of your life fall in his hands. Let him place it where it needs to go.
I’ve never made a mosaic before, but I would imagine you have to have a vision for what it will become. With a design in mind, each broken piece is then perfectly placed to be part of the creation. And I bet it looks like quite a mess in the process. Only the artist can see what it will become as it takes shape. And then, a moment comes when it makes sense. The design is revealed with all it’s intricate details and the bigger picture is stunning.
This is our lives. Piece by piece, God places all the broken edges and misfit shapes together in his divine design. It’s the process of creating a future that is greater than each individual piece. A design that uses both unexpected breaks and dark shadows as part of a masterpiece that all comes together.
And this is precisely why you can’t give up here, Sis. You haven’t seen what God is creating with your life. You can’t give up when this piece hurts too bad. Let God have that. Let him shape it to become part of his beautiful plans for your life. Remember, what you suffer now is nothing compared to the glory God will reveal in your life later. Hold on for the later God has promised you. Today may really suck, but later is promised to be overflowing with joy.
Today, I will take photo number 5,124 as a documentation of my daily gratitude. 14 years ago, on July 1, 2009, I began a journey that drastically changed the trajectory of my life. On that day, I began documenting every new day of life with a single photo selected as my daily gratitude photo. 5,124 days later, I haven’t missed a single day, they’ve all been documented by a daily gratitude photo.
Were there hard days in there? Oh my goodness, hard beyond belief. Days our world came crashing down around us. Days my heart was shattered in a million pieces. Days of good byes. Days of loss. Days of tragedy. Days of disappointment. Days of hurt. Days of darkness. Days of struggle. Days I didn’t understand why a good God would even allow. Days I never want to live again.
Then one photo changed it all. I had a mosaic made of all my gratitude photos. Thousands of days all coming together to form one picture. A picture of me. My life. The darkest of days were of value in the overall picture, they formed the black pupils in my eyes. The days that didn’t make sense all became part of a bigger picture, perfectly placed together by a good God who always knew the placement of each day as part of the great future that reached far beyond that hardship.
When I step back, I see me … I see my life whole. When I look close, I see each individual day and the moments it held. And it all makes sense. None of it was wasted. Every day was used. Every photo part of the bigger picture. A future designed by the Almighty, with each day held in his mighty hands to be loving placed precisely where it needed to be.
This day of your life is held in those hands. And please know if this day seems dark and heavy and void of hope or reasoning, it will be lovingly placed precisely where it needs to be for a future filled with God’s good plans for you.
If you zoom in on the big picture of my life, you will see a 13 year old girl curled up in a hospital bed with slit wrists. That’s a day I never wanted, but it became part of the design. You will see a picture of a daughter holding her mama after saying goodbye to the 50 year love of her life. Gosh, that hurt, but it became part of the design. You will see anxious and nervous good byes as kids became young adults and left for the military. Whew, those were hard days, but they became part of the design. You will see funerals, sick dogs, tragedy, sinking cars, and days on my knees, all perfectly placed as part of the design of my life.
It’s a mosaic.
Your life is a mosaic. The master knows what he is doing. He knows where this piece belongs to create a future that is filled with greater joy than you can imagine. Let him have this piece, and step back to see what he is creating in your life. It’s truly beautiful.
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