I never read a novel from front to back. I usually skim the ending first, and then, as I’m going along in the book, I often flip to later chapters so I can see how the situation I’m currently reading about is going to turn out.
This drives my loved ones crazy, but I just want to know what to expect. Good or bad, I like to know how things are going to turn out.
For me, it’s always been less about a need to control and more about a fear of the unknown. And it goes way back, this tendency.
When I was growing up, my older brothers called me “Worry Wart.” Years ago, when I asked my dad what I was like as a child, he simply said, “You were always very fearful.”
Thankfully, what once was doesn’t always indicate what is now—or what will be in the future.
When God sets out to break a chain, He knows exactly which tools work best for each of His children.
In my life, His chain-breaking strategy has included one opportunity after another to trust Him when the way ahead looks murky, at best.
Through several years of infertility, two international adoptions, my husband Randy’s two layoffs during the Great Recession and a subsequent out-of-town work assignment that lasted almost a year, God began rewiring parts of my heart where the fear of the unknown had lurked for so long.
During a five-month span in 2011, for example, we put our house up for sale, bought a foreclosed fixer-upper, moved, got our new home into a livable condition and enrolled our girls in a different school—all while Randy was spending most of every work week in another state.
When the For Sale sign went up in our former yard, I had no idea where we would end up, how long it would take or what it would require of us. It was an exhausting experience, to be sure.
But we made it through, one long week at a time.
And now, I can see how braving those unknowns strengthened my faith and prepared me for a more recent season that—in some ways—has been even more difficult.
Several years ago, my mom began exhibiting memory loss and other symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as Alzheimer’s dementia. When my phone rang, I never knew what news was going to be waiting for me on the other end of the line. I got used to taking a deep breath and adjusting my schedule so I could help my parents with whatever came up.
Then last June, my mom had an accident at home that landed her in the burn unit of a large hospital, followed by a couple months in rehab, then long-term care in a skilled-nursing center.
It was an anxious time for our whole family. When surgery was called for, we didn’t know if it would work, or how it would affect my mom’s overall condition. In family meetings, we listened as teams of doctors and nurses outlined all the possible outcomes of this procedure or that—outcomes that mostly ranged from dire to heartbreaking.
There were tears, sleepless nights, and many long drives to the hospital. But, strangely enough, there was also peace through the unknown.
The truth of Deuteronomy 31:8, a verse that I had long relied on for comfort and direction, wrapped itself around my heart and carried me into the unknown of each new day:
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (NIV)
My 85-year-old mom, it turns out, is extremely resilient. More than one medical professional has used words like “remarkable healing” and “miraculous” to describe her recovery, both last summer and this past January when she had a stroke.
I don’t know what tomorrow holds—not for my mom, not for any of us. I still don’t like that, but I’m learning to be OK with it.
And since I can’t read the end of the story just yet, here’s what I continue to I do:
I pray for God’s will to be done. I remind myself that He goes before us and is always with us.
And then … I take the next step.
When God sets out to break a chain, He knows exactly which tools work best for all of His children. We were Made to Brave the Unknown. #MadeforBrave #Sisterhood Share on X
Louis Flowers is mom to two lovely daughters and wife to one good man. She’s an author, former journalist and lifelong Midwesterner who values authenticity, enjoys gardening and – as you know – always reads the end of the book first.
Blog: http://www.loisflowers.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@loisflowers16/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loisflowers/
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Sisters, we are called to walk the way of hope instead of the way of defeat. We must claim more than our title of “Daughter of the King.” We must step up and also claim our position.
And we must claim these together. As a sisterhood; a sisterhood of brave women who stand strong in the promises of who God is and who we are.
- We all are Made for Brave.
- We are made to live for something authentic and brave.
- And in living brave, we silence the past, transform the future, and take a front row seat to God’s wild and uncontainable love!
So, I’m inviting you to join this Made for Brave Sisterhood, each Monday as we share our stories and allow God to bring hope and healing. Let’s commit to being authentic and brave, one step at a time, side by side, holding each other up and nudging each other toward our true selves. And let’s claim the victory waiting on the other side of brave; for ourselves and our sisterhood.
Let’s celebrate our tears and our struggles as we peel away the layers of fear to reveal the beauty of brave.
Let’s risk everything that brave requires for everything that brave has to offer…
Becoming who we were created to be!
Join the Made for Brave Sisterhood Every Monday - Sharing our stories of becoming who we were created to be! #MadeforBrave #Sisterhood Share on XDo you have a Made for Brave story to share? Get the writing guidelines and submit your stories HERE!
