When Things Don’t Work Out

Have you ever tried to do something and been met with 101 distractions that seem to limit you to making any progress at all and wondered why? That sometimes happens to me. Then there are times when everything goes well and things just click perfectly into place, and you make so much more headway that it’s phenomenal.

As I started to write this, I sat at my desk pondering.

I looked outside. It was raining. I reminded myself that the rain would stop eventually, the sun would come out, and I would be able to do the things I needed to outside. Realizing that the weather and my thoughts were distracting me from writing, I looked back to my paper and the words I wanted to write. The distractions didn’t stop.

My cat pushed the pen out of my hand and nuzzled me for attention and then wanted to sit on the piece of paper I was writing on.

I gave him some of the attention he demanded before moving him off the paper so I could go back to writing. There are distractions that interrupt what we are trying to accomplish, but there are also times when everything knits together perfectly, when nothing can prevent us from achieving what we are attempting to accomplish. I waited for that time. Soon the words began to come.

First a trickle, then they gained momentum and began to flow like a faster running stream. I knew exactly what to write. It became so easy.

As I read over what I had written, I wondered whether it was like this when the Bible writers wrote down the Scriptures. Did they face distractions and moments the words wouldn’t come? Or did everything flow with a real sense of peace? I am sure the words came easily because God ordained it to be so. It is reassuring to know that we can leave it all for God to work out, in His time, in His way. God’s Word reminds us, “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1, NIV).

So let’s wait on God’s time and blessing in all we do and not be frustrated when things don’t seem to be working out the way we want and distractions and interruptions delay us. We can trust that things will and do come according to His time and purpose.

Laura A. Canning