When God Weaves a Complicated Story

I submitted this article as a guest post submission to a blog awhile ago and it didn’t get chosen so I thought instead of just tossing it I would share it here.

We just got off the phone from a call we had been dreading might come, our adoption agency told us they would no longer be able to work with us. This was our third agency in a year and a half, we had invested approximately $10,000 at this point and had nothing to show from it, we were back at square one.

We felt like God had called us to adopt but after hitting roadblock after roadblock and then ending up at this seemingly brick wall we were starting to doubt. We had invested so much in the past year and a half, not just financially but emotionally as well. We were discouraged, disheartened and confused.

We started questioning whether or not we were really supposed to adopt, and found ourselves asking: “God wouldn’t make it this hard if He wanted us to adopt, would He?”

We quickly realized that the answer to that question was, “of course He would”, after all, Jesus himself told us in John 16:33 (NLT):

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

We aren’t made to feel content and have an easy life here on earth.
When God weaves us complicated stories, He does it with purpose.

When you lose your job. You can trust He has a plan.

When that relationship ends and it hurts so bad. You can trust He will use your pain for good.

When you go for an ultrasound and don’t hear the words you were hoping for. You can trust He is in control.

When you are told no, or not now. You can trust he is weaving you a beautiful, complicated story.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation.
Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:2, 3 & 12 (NLT)

Notice how James doesn’t say “if your faith is tested” but rather, “when your faith is tested”, the testing and trials are a given, a guarantee, it will happen.

Struggling does not mean we were going in the wrong direction, but rather, that God is stretching and refining us. We will never see the full outcome while we are here on earth but He may give us a few glimpses.

In our case He wove us a complicated adoption story so we could share the journey with others and show them not only the hard moments, but also the glorious bits, like how we could demonstrate our faith and trust in a sovereign God through the ups and down and the joy we experienced when we finally got to travel halfway across the world and welcome a sweet little boy into our family.

While it can be hard to travel the Christian journey we can find peace in knowing that God has a plan, He does not waste our pain.

And we know that
God causes everything to work together
for the good of those who love God
and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28 (NLT)

We may only get a glimpse of the results here on earth or we may never see His grand plan but we can trust that He is using our times of trouble and pain to bring others to Him.

The complicated story God has woven for you may be a short story, a season, or it may be a novel, covering most of your life, either way you can take rest in knowing He has a master plan, and you are part of it.