Falling Into Place

September 2021

Have you ever felt like everything in your life was going wrong that could possibly go wrong? Have you ever felt like your life was a puzzle and all the pieces just dumped all over the floor? We all walk through times in our lives where we look around and feel like our life is falling apart and that we are all alone.

Sometimes things don’t always work out the way we have planned or want them to and life can often seem like an uphill battle. But during the hard and trying times, we are not meant to carry the burden alone. We are to look to the Lord because He is where our strength comes from. We do not have to walk alone through tough times in life even if that is what the world has ingrained in our thought processes. We can trust the Lord and other Kingdom connections that God puts in our lives during our time of need. We can look to the Lord as our Protector, Provider, Safety, Refuge and Hope.

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone…’” Genesis 2:18

“I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!’” Psalm 91:2

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

When things in our lives begin to shift, sift, and change, it can be difficult to resist fear and have faith as the pieces of the puzzle of our lives move around. Most of the time, things in our life happen in multiples. It never seems to be just one thing happening at a time but many things hammering down at once. It’s often like a rainstorm pounding us from every single side. Although things happen in life, not all storms are bad. Sometimes they are to get us to move, shift, sift, and change for the better. Sometimes it is so that things will actually fall into place.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in Me.” John 14:1

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

During difficult times in our lives it can often feel like things are falling apart and that we might even crack from all the pressure surrounding us. Many times the pressure is not meant to break us but to build us up stronger and take us where God wants us to be. Some say “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” but I say, “What doesn’t break you, builds you.” Hard times in our lives can be a way to build our faith as our spirit man grows instead of simply just making it through another one of life's challenges successfully surviving. I don’t want to just survive the storms of life but to thrive in the midst of them.

During hard times in life, we can choose to see what is really going on from God’s view instead of what it feels like in the natural. When things begin to rage around us, it is an opportunity to draw closer to Jesus, lock away in prayer with the Lord, and ask what He sees over what we see. The most courageous thing we can do when our world starts spinning out of control is to drop to our knees in prayer and surrender to the Lord’s plan and will over our own. We need to look for His pieces to the puzzle and not our own. More times than not, if we ask, God will show us what He is doing behind the scenes in the midst of seeming chaos and through the blaring noises of life. He will show us His heart on the matter, take what we see as a bad thing, and use it for His glory and fame. He will use our circumstances to get us to fall into place instead of falling apart.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’” Psalm 46:10

I have personally been walking through a time where it seems like everything wants to break down or fall apart. I have been taking hit by hit. I began to think in my earthly mind that I might just crack under all the pressure. What felt like things falling apart was really God showing me how I was just falling into place. He needed me to walk through the storm to get to the other side, get in proper position, and learn some much needed lessons along the way. He was taking me deeper. Deeper with Him into the unknown as He taught me how to trust Him and others in a way I had forgotten or never knew how.

“Scripture reassures us, ‘No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.’ It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. ‘Everyone who calls, “Help, God!” gets help.’” Romans 10:11-13 MSG

Through the challenges thrown my way, I received a new layer of healing in places I didn’t know I was broken. I learned to trust and receive “help” in new and unexpected ways. Being strong doesn’t mean we don’t need help along the way. I found that receiving help actually strengthened me beyond what I expected. It isn't a weakness to lean on God and others but shows great courage and strength. The Lord showed me another side to the truth that there is strength in numbers and how it is not good to walk alone in our times of need. We can and need to trust and receive help. Although it seems that difficult times tend to rain down in multiples as one bad thing after another hits us like a ton of bricks, so do the blessings of God. If we will react right and trust, we can receive with open arms what God wants to do in us during the challenges of life.

I woke up a few days ago dreading the day to come because of things I was going to have to deal with and plan due to the onslaught of challenges thrown my way. It was nothing too major but it was just enough to make me wish I didn’t have to worry about it. I looked up to heaven and said out loud, “Lord, I need some hope today!” I looked at my phone to see a text from my adopted Grandma whom I love dearly. She had no idea what I was walking through and said, “Don’t doubt in the dark what you heard in the light. The blessings of the Lord are overtaking you and your children today. Jesus said you are going to the other side and the battle is already won.” That day, blessings rained down upon us and hope overwhelmed us. What I dreaded, I didn’t even have to face. God made a way where I didn’t even have to worry about a single thing or even come up with a plan. I was able to rest and be at peace. That is God’s love—He takes all our worry and turns it into peace. His love causes us to fall into place instead of falling apart.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 (ESV)

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” 1 John 5:14 (ESV)

“​​Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 (ESV)

My adopted Grandma also said in her text to remember that, “Blessings always come in doubles.” It got me thinking how troubles seem to come in doubles, so why would blessings not come in doubles? God’s blessings far outweigh the troubles if we will just trust Him and follow His plan over our own. We think we always need a plan and do things in our own strength, but God’s plans are better and bring about peace. Since difficult times can either break us or build us, in the hard times we have the opportunity to seek what is going on inside of us, take captive and examine our thoughts and feelings in the chaos, and choose to obey the word of God—having faith and trust over fear and anxiety. His piece to the puzzle always brings peace.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:9

God has every moment of our life planned out. He created us to do His will from the foundations of the world. Every hair is accounted for and every tear is held. He sees us and knows what we are walking through. Yes, some things are from the liar and sent as a distraction, decoy, delay, or to detour our destiny, but all those “D” words are nothing to God. They are not the truth. The truth is that we are overcomers and that we are seated in heavenly places. The truth is that storms in life do not have to overtake us and that we can overcome them and rise above the noise.

“Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” Ephesians 1:4

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6

If you are walking through a storm, I encourage you to seek God’s heart on the matter at hand. Ask to see what He sees about your situation. Oftentimes, it can be something He wants us to change, do, or learn from. Most of the time what I am feeling in the moment of hardship isn’t what He is feeling and therefore I have to change my perspective to match the truth of what He says. Not every storm is to derail us, but to grow us.

I encourage you to react differently than what your emotions are telling you to do. See from a heavenly view and begin to walk in your God-given identity as a child of the King. God is the One who knows all and sees all and He is a good Father. He is not out to harm you, but to get you to where you need to be. Some storms push us in the right direction and even though they may feel like a punishment, they are in fact an upgrade. So today, if you feel like you are falling apart, remember that with God by your side nothing is impossible. Let your faith rise instead of fear and see that you are not falling apart, but falling into place.

“With God nothing is impossible.” Luke 1:37

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1