On Easter Sunday Morning, I woke up to the makings of a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. It was that kind of weather that was warm but never gets too hot. Best of all we were all coming together to celebrate the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ. It was the kind of day that inspires you to face the work week with a smile on your face.
And then every day this week I’ve been awakened by the sound of a jackhammer breaking up concrete. More reliable than a rooster on a farm 7am rolls around and it’s GRRRAKKA KKAKKAKKAK!…GRRRAKKA KKAKKAKKAK! It is not a pleasant way to be awakened. The sleepy part of me tries to convince my body during small pauses that the worker is done. GRRRAKKA!
I’ll probably never know what exactly they were working on. At best, I might walk on the sidewalk after it’s fixed, but in the morning, I just know I’m annoyed. I’m bothered that they woke me up but if I’m really honest I’m probably mostly annoyed that it is out of my control.
I want to walk over in my robe and bunny slippers and tell them to knock it off. They wouldn’t listen, and if they did listen their work wouldn’t get done and I might not have water in my house anymore. Sometimes in life things happen that throw off our plans. We wanted to do X but life says, “NOPE we’re doing Y.”
It’s at times like this we must trust that God’s plan is still in effect for our lives. Romans 8:28 tells us that, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” These means that even our bad days, awakened by jackhammers, can lead to something greater than being annoyed.
Being woken up early is a minor annoyance in the long run. But think back on a rough time in your life that is far enough back that you can see how it led to good things. I graduated seminary in 2009, that was a bad time to graduate. I looked for jobs in my field of counseling for a year and nothing happened, until a friend of mine said he had a position in youth ministry. Youth ministry was not even on my radar, but I took it and we had a blast for five years. Trusting in the plan even in the hard times helps us reach and recognize the good times. What hard times have steered your life to better times?