This week’s devotional is a guest post from Glenna Marshall. She’s one of my favorite writers, and I’d love for you to check out more of her writing over on her blog. She’s also just released her first album, Hold Fast, which is filled with beautiful music and biblical encouragement. We’re giving away a free digital download of her album on Instagram today–come check it out!

 

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Of all the arguments I’ve had in my life, this one was a doozy.

I had jokingly attempted to play devil’s advocate with my friend, but it backfired when my pointed questions about life goals erupted into a full-blown fight about why she would achieve her goals NO MATTER WHAT.

I left the heated conversation wondering what I could have said differently about an obviously sore subject. I had only wanted to encourage her to keep her hands open.

In the past 13 years of infertility, illness, and broken dreams, I’ve learned to hold loosely to long term goals, so I worry when I see people I love white-knuckle their grip on a neatly planned future the way I did. The process of opening a tightly closed fist is a tough one, but sometimes God’s plans diverge starkly from our own. And that divine unclenching of our hands can be the course we need to walk in order to treasure Him more than any goal or accomplishment.

Though I’ve fought against the call to hold loosely many times, the truth is that my years of brokenness have turned up more joy and deep trust in the Lord than I could have ever drafted had I been the architect. Suffering and crushed hopes seem like the harder path. But Scripture teaches us that it is through suffering that we learn our Savior’s nearness and character. We may not understand His path, but there is safety in trusting the Shepherd. If God’s plans sometimes allow us to walk a shadowed valley, then we can see the gift of His rod and His staff, knowing with certainty that He is with us (Psalm 23).

No matter what you face this week, there is safety in trusting the Shepherd.

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