We live in the country.  Last year, I was walking from our back door towards our garden when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a 5 foot black snake only a couple feet away from my flip-flopped feet. (try saying that 10 times really fast…flip-flopped feet)  My adrenaline kicked in and I didn’t stick around for the snake to get any closer.  Somehow, I managed to find an extra ounce of bravery when I ran inside to tell my kids what I had seen because I ran back out with my camera and snapped a picture. (Still not sure why I wanted a picture, but I guess it came in handy for this post, huh?) Later that afternoon, I walked out on the sidewalk in the front of our house and was again startled by another black snake hidden behind our landscape bushes.  At this point, I called my husband (who dislikes snakes more than I do) to tell him what had happened and I was questioning ever going outside in our yard again.

Fast forward to this summer.  One morning, I walked out to our garden to see what type of damage the deer had done overnight.  Since I recently woke up, I hadn’t yet taken the time to put my contact lenses in my eyes.  My glasses were dirty and smudged, so I was cleaning them with my t-shirt while walking blindly through our backyard that particular morning.  Everything was blurry, then a panic feeling rushed over me.  I froze in my tracks remembering what happened last year, then quickly put my glasses on so I would be able to see a snake if one was nearby.

I realize not everyone believes the way I believe nor deal with things the way I’ve learned to deal with them… But, if you’re anything like me, I have often wondered why God won’t allow us to see His bigger picture.  If my son was going to have cancer, why couldn’t God have “warned” me in a dream or something?  Life is a lot like the trip from my back door to the garden.  In most situations, we are walking blindly.  If I knew for sure there would be a snake in my yard, then I would choose not to go outside.  If I had known for sure my child would have cancer, I would have spent all of my time trying to figure out how to shield him from it.  None of us know what tomorrow holds, but I believe God reveals things to us according to His perfect timing and will carry us through whatever we’re dealing with, as long as we choose to trust and have faith in Him.  He doesn’t promise nothing bad will ever happen, but he does promise to never leave or forsake us.

If everything was revealed to us all at once, I think it would be too much for us to handle.  We would be walking around with “labels” hanging over our head and it would prevent us from fulfilling God’s plans for us. (i.e. If God told one of us we would be injured in a car accident, would we really choose to get in the car and go for a drive?)  If we had all information up front, wouldn’t many of us fall into the trap of trying to play God and change the outcome?  Or some of us might just throw all cares to the wind and decide not do anything because we already knew how everything would play out?  Personally, if I had been told when my son was a baby that he was going to have cancer when he was 5 years old, I would have missed out on so much joy.  I would have worried so much more and enjoyed so much less because of all the worrying.

On a lighter note, I still don’t plan to walk blindly out into my yard every again.  Just sayin’…

“For we live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Matthew 6:25-27