Which Way is Forward?
Forward, Alliance Council 2017, is in full swing in Columbus, OH. We are being inspired and encouraged. We are all ready to move Forward! But, at times, we find ourselves paralyzed. Unable to move. Asking, “Where do I go?” Here’s hope.
My husband of nearly twenty-five years had just divorced me. At 41 years old, I was a stay-at-home mom with no career, no home, and my family was broken. It was as a death to me; the love of my life was gone! I was absolutely devastated. I had no lasting means of support and was given two weeks to decide “what I wanted to be when I grow up.” I was broken, hurt and fearful. What would I do? How would I carry on? Why didn’t You save my marriage and keep my family together? Questions, fear, anger, disappointment – I just didn’t understand. For about ten years, I was a born-again, earnestly seeking Christian, but I was afraid. The storm had come and it was more terrible than anything I could have imagined. My desperate heart cried to God over and over and then, He gave me a dream. I was standing on a sandy beach with a map that looked like a treasure map in my hands. I was looking at it very closely, trying to get my bearings. “Where am I?” “Where do I go?” Just as I began to get my bearings, a wind came up and blew the map out of my hands. This happened three times. As I woke up, I sensed the Spirit saying, “I am not going to give you a road map.” “Trust me!” He was asking me to trust and follow Him without any clue as to where I would end up or how He would get me there. Honestly, I was disappointed. I was hoping for some answer to hold onto, but He didn’t want me to hold onto anything except Him! That was fourteen years ago and I don’t know what you may be going through, but our God is faithful. As you seek and follow Him, He will see you through the valley of the shadow of death and into the promised land of the peace that passes understanding. He is ABLE. He will PROVIDE.
Debbie Payne, Alliance Community Church, Geneva, NY
