One day, my daughter and I were putting together her train tracks. She would hand me pieces of the train tracks and I help her put it together. I realized that the overall shape of the train tracks was dependent on what pieces she gives me.
Some of us struggle with regrets. I regret sometimes that I was not born in an evangelical Christian family that values Christian ministry (missions, evangelism, etc.). That piece of my story has a profound effect on who I am today. One effect of that piece is that, while I wanted to dedicate my life to ministry, there is a part of me that wants to please my parents by having a stable life and better yet, having material prosperity. I hate to admit it, but I was looking for a comfortable ministry. Well, those two (being upper-middle class and being in ministry) do not usually mix. For one thing, depending on money from supporters makes life unstable.
As my daughter and I continue to build her train tracks together, I noticed that the train tracks came along nicely anyway. In the end, we have a decent train track.
Sometimes we fear that because some pieces of our lives do not seem to fit with our vision of our future, that our lives are not what it could be. It is true that life may not look the way we want it to look. We may not become what we dreamed we would be. However, if you do the right things in God's eyes, your life is making a difference for God's purposes.
The apostle Paul writes, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). The "things" are the pieces of our lives, some may seem bad and some may seem good. The apostle Paul is saying that God is making all these pieces work together for "good" for those who love him. If you are someone who loves the God who revealed himself in Jesus, trust that all the pieces of your life is working together for the good. It may not be the good you envisioned, but in the great scheme of God's purposes for you and for his world, it would be good.
