Some things are a straight up mystery. It’s a mystery how this is all going to work out for you. It’s a mystery when it will happen. You may think you know, but my sister, it’s all a mystery. You’ve been trying to understand things you were never meant to understand. And really, you’ve been trying to control things you simply aren’t equipped to control.

If you’ve been trying to will and force your way through this, my guess is you’re 2 things: Exhausted and disappointed. Am I right?

I don’t know how this is going to work out. It’s a mystery.

Mysteries are God’s to handle, not mine to try and control. Revelation 10: 7, “But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

What in the world does that mean? Well my friends, that is what you call a MYSTERY. That’s the secret thoughts and plans of God, and you’re not God so you’re not in on the secret. His position is to KNOW, your position is to TRUST.

But sometimes a girl just wants to know WHEN … God, when are you going to make it happen? I know you’re going to use all of this for good, but when, God?

Have you heard my story of my timeline with God? I learned one of my greatest spiritual lessons so far in my life with this one. I have a family situation that I’ve been begging God to fix. I’ve offered him so many preferred plans of restoration. I mean really, I’ve even done the hard part of putting it all together step by step in a way that would be absolutely fantastic and I’ve turned it over to him to use my plan. I would say, “Lord, by Christmas, make it happen.” Christmas would come and go with absolutely no progress. So I would graciously extend my deadline with God and give him more time.

God was continually on an extension with me until finally one day the Lord said to me, “Pamela, take me off your timeline.” Then he asked me for 30. “I’ll do it in 30, will you trust me for 30?” I mean y’all, that could be 30 minutes, that could be 30 days … I’ve been waiting for nearly 6 years, so okay, I’ll make that deal. Lord, I’ll give you 30. Then, he revealed to me he was asking me for 30 years.

Will I trust God if I have to wait for 30 years? If this heartache and disappointment continues for 30 more years, will I still wake up and choose joy? Will I still show up and move forward without misery?

That day, I gave the Lord 30 … 30 years. And I’ve felt tremendous peace since. Nothing has gotten better, in fact in my human eyes, things have doubled down to be far worse, but it was not a battle for me to choose joy today because I’ve already embraced the mystery of it all.

If you’ve been asking God WHEN, here’s your answer, Sis. Jesus said in Acts 1:7, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”

LEAVE SPACE FOR GOD’S MYSTERY.

How? When? Why? That’s all a mystery. That’s God’s space. Trying to fill the mysterious space of God will only discourage you, disappoint you, and disillusion you.

Yesterday I was listening to a teaching of Lysa Terkurst and she said, “Leave room for the mystery of God”, and in that instant it’s as if the world stood still for me. I have a 30 year committed space for the unfolding of God’s mystery, and in that space the devil has been denied. He doesn’t get to play in my thoughts and emotions. He doesn’t get to harden my heart and turn me bitter. He doesn’t get to overwhelm me with imagined bad endings.

Oh, but he tries. The devil isn’t a quitter. He’s a persistent little sucker. But I have sealed this space as God’s mystery. This is where God knows and I trust.

If you’re in the mystery of it all, which I bet you are, you’re being invited to make space for not understanding and not controlling. There’s freedom in this trust fall. And listen to me, God can be trusted. When the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, this entire mystery will be accomplished. Now I don’t have the slightest clue what that means, and I DON’T HAVE TO.

My friend, you don’t either.

Tucked away in the first book of your Bible is the sweetest, yet often over-looked example of leaving space for God’s mystery. Lately, we’ve been talking a lot about the story of Joseph. He was the 11th son of Jacob and the favored child. His big brothers all grew jealous of Joseph and secretly sold him into slavery at the age of 17. This started a series of unfortunate events, or divine assignments, depending on how you look at them. He’s a slave, then he’s a leader. He’s a prisoner, then he’s a leader again. He’s chosen, then he’s forgotten, then he’s chosen again. This is a man who dealt with family dysfunction and rejection for 22 years. That needs a whole lot of therapy.

Now maybe you know how the story ends: Joseph is reunited with the brothers who sold him as a teen and he saves their lives. It’s the often quoted ending of Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”

But, before the happy ending, Joseph was in God’s mystery. He couldn’t see how all of this was being used for something so good. He couldn’t make sense of the pain his family had caused him. He didn’t have closure. He had mystery.

My friend, maybe you don’t need closure, maybe you need to leave that space for God’s mystery.

That’s what Joseph did. 1 chapter before the climactic reunification of his family, Joseph had made a decision and a declaration. Here it is, Genesis 41: 51-52, “Joseph named his older son Manaseh, for he said, ‘God has made my forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.’ Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, ‘God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.'”

While still in the mystery of why, how and when, Joseph made a commitment. In the space of God’s mystery, he received healing.

Manaseh: God has made me forget. He’s let go of all that hurt. He’s stopped replaying the sad stories. Bitterness has been torn out by it’s root.

My friends, only God can do that … but I assure you, GOD CAN DO THAT! He can do that for you. I pray manaseh over your mind. May you forget every single thing the enemy has used to taunt your thoughts and emotions. May your memories be flooded with the healing power of the blood of Jesus.

Nothing had been fixed in Joseph’s life at this point. There hadn’t been an apology or an explanation or a reunion. But he was receiving his healing in this place of God’s mystery. First Manaseh, God has made me forget, then Ephriam, God has made me fruitful right where I am.

Did you know even in the space before resolutions, reunions and reappointments, you can do good. Right here, where it’s still really hard, you can grow and produce goodness. And I believe that’s precisely what God is asking his girls to do today.

Let him heal your mind and your heart, and decide to produce good things in your life even before you see how it’s all going to work out.

You’re in the middle of God’s mystery. This is the space where he knows and you trust. The space where you heal and you produce. The space where more is happening than you can ever think or imagine, but my sister, it’s happening. God is working in this mystery!

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