“Never dread any consequence resulting from absolute obedience to His command. A storm is simply the hem of His robe, the sign of His coming, and the evidence of His presence.” {SITD}
“Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
Where, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but…through?
Then wait on the Lord with a trust serene
Till the night of your fear is gone;
He will send the wind, He will heap the floods,
When He says to your soul, ‘Move on.’
And His hand will lead you through-clear through-
Ere the watery walls roll down,
No foe can reach you, no wave can touch,
No mightiest sea can drown;
The tossing billows may rear their crests,
Their foam at your feet may break,
But o’er the seabed you will walk dry ground
In the path that your Lord will make.
In the morning watch, ‘neath the lifted cloud,
You will see but the Lord alone,
When He leads you on from the place of the sea
To a land that you have not known;
And your fears will pass as your foes have passed,
You will be no more afraid;
You will sing His praise in a better place,
A place that His hand has made.” {Annie Johnson Flint/SITD…emphasis mine}
“My attitude as a saint to sorrow and difficulty is not to ask that they may be prevented, but to ask that I may preserve the self God created me to be through every fire of sorrow. We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but…there is sorrow, and we have to receive ourselves in its fires. If we try and evade sorrow, refuse to lay our account with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life; it is no use saying sorrow ought not to be. Sin and sorrow and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.”
“Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness, but it does not always make a man better. Suffering either gives me my self…or…it destroys my self. The way to find your self is in the fires of sorrow. You always know the man who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, you are certain you can go to him in trouble and find that the has ample leisure for you. If a man has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, he has no time for you. If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you…nourishment for other people.” {My Utmost for His Highest…some emphasis mine}
I think that last statement sums it up quite well. ‘…God will make you nourishment for other people.’
Confused? Weary? Not sure which way to turn? Feel like the pieces of your life are scattered all around you?
Yeah, I get it. And so does God.
But hang in there. He has a purpose. A plan. And He’s hard at work. Trust me, He is probably more excited about revealing His finished product than you are.
So keep walking. Keep moving. Keep holding on.
When He is through, you will find you’ve become ‘nourishment’ for not only your family and friends, but also for people you’ve never even met before. {How awesome is that?}
So, tough as it is, let sorrow do her work in you. There’s a purpose and a plan, and if you will allow it, God can make you into a delicious, nourishing treat for someone else while getting you to where you need to be.
Who knows? You might even get to be a cupcake! 
{Hope I’m a chocolate-covered, cream-filled donut with nuts on top. Not very healthy but it sure would be yummy! ~~ And, yeah…don’t even think about commenting on the ‘nuts’ part. I get it. Ha, ha.}
{Image courtesy of Flickr}
