Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a beautiful brand new day. A fresh start. A new chance to rise up and step into the sweet promises that God has prepared for you. The Lord has promised that His plans for you are good. He has plans for your future. He has plans for deliverance and freedom and healing. He is working all things out for your good.

And when we think of that scripture, sometimes we get focused on what we see right in front of us. Heartache, struggle, loss, trauma, lack of progress, frustration at our slow growth, unanswered prayers, and sometimes even answered prayers that look way different than we were expecting the answer to look….. all of these things can make us question…. How can God possibly be working good through this mess?

We don’t always see His Hands at work because we are too close to the action. If you are in a forest, you can’t see the beauty of the whole forest, you just see the trees right in front of you. You lack the higher perspective needed to see the arial view of the bigger picture. And the bigger picture of our lives is sometimes really hard for us to see when we are in the thick of the battlefield.

In addition to our own lives, “our forest” or our bigger picture also includes our past generations as well as our children, our grandchildren, their children and so on… our forest is much larger than just our walk in the earth. God wants to protect and bless your whole generational line. He desires to set free generations of people to walk in the purposes He laid out for them long ago. So in the bigger picture, that means His protecting grace sometimes looks waaaaay different than we had hoped. Sometimes prayers are answered in a way we weren’t expecting because God is setting something into motion that will affect our great grandchild who may not even be born yet!

His plans are goooooood for you! Even though, they might not always make sense to you. This is where trusting in His promises to protect us is key to our mental peace. As the world seems like it is crashing, we can speak our I am statements backed up by scripture.

• I am choosing to trust the Word of God.
• His promises found in scripture are for me.
• I serve a mighty God who will protect me, and work all things out for good.
• God has great plans for me.

My best friend Christy and I walked through loss and trauma at a similar time in life, and we formed a close bond as we walked through some tough fires of life. A few weeks ago, she shared part of her story on our Facebook group: Good Morning Gorgeous.

And as I read her words, I thought about how God’s protecting grace isn’t always welcomed at the time. Just like we chase our toddlers around the house moving them from danger, saving their lives from outlets, stoves, running outside into the street, etc.. God is also constantly covering us with His protection and keeping us safe. And like a toddler who doesn’t like to be redirected, sometimes we don’t either. But God sees the whole forest. He has your whole life and the generations after you at heart.

Here is my sweet friend Christy’s story about when God says no…

I grew up in the church and know all the things. However, trauma has damaging and lasting effects.

In the past several years, I have been growing, recovering, changing, and healing. I have often described my relationship with God as “I know God is there. I know He is with me. I know He answers prayers… but not for me. He totally has the ability to heal, to answer prayers, to do miracles… but not for me.” I even said things like “I know that doesn’t make sense. I know that’s not logical, but I can’t get past it.” I prayed, in anguish, for years over things. I clung to bible verses and stories of answered prayer, of not giving up on prayer… but my prayers were not answered.

In reality, my prayers WERE answered, but the answer was – no. Just no. Not an explanation, not a reason at the time, just no. And it hurt. It HURT. And that hurt lingers with me. It causes doubt. It makes it easier to say “I believe in God, I love God, but He doesn’t do things for ME.”

Oh, so childish.

My 8 year old daughter is going through some behavior issues. Attitude, argumentative. She hates when I say no. She’s an amazing, loving, awesome kid, but at the moment, she really really dislikes the word no and wants to argue and bargain and plead and good lord, give me strength with this teenage-like 8 year old.

Why do I say no to her? Because I know what is best for her. I know, better than her, what she needs. What she needs to be healthy, to be safe, to grow as a good human. I say no because I love her. I want what’s best for her long-term, not in the moment. No = I love you.

Which is exactly why God said no to me. God looked at my life – long term. He looked at the terrible marriage I was in and said – No. No, I’m not going to fix this because you deserve so much better. When I screamed out to him, to make my then husband hand me back my baby, he said No. He allowed him to run with my 5 month old baby into traffic putting her life in danger. He allowed one of the most traumatic moments of my life – watching as he ran in front of truck with my daughter. I had to fight to pull him out of the way of the truck. My brother had to help get her out of his arms. I ran screaming down the road with my baby, in a panic, while God watched and said, No, I’m not going to intervene here. Not at this moment.

He said no. And. It. Hurt.

He said no because he knows what is best for me. He knows, better than me, what I need. What I need to be healthy, to be safe, to grow as a good human. He said no because He loves me. He wants what’s best for me long-term, not in the moment. No = He loves me.

He knew that traumatic moment would be what it took to get Raegan and myself to safety long term. To get DCF involved. To be the stimulus to prove that he is a danger. To allow the restraining order. To allow me the power to keep my daughter safe. That traumatic moment led me to the right counselors, the right lawyers, the divorce that was long overdue. That one terrible moment changed the course of my life forever, not just mine but also my daughters. For the BEST.

God said no… to save me. To save my daughter.

I look back at that moment and a few others. I KNOW intellectually that it is what needed to happen. Yet I’ve let the hurt of the no linger in my heart. I NEEDED him to say No! Yet, I’ve held onto the hurt. Not so different from my 8 year old at the moment.

But God uses things in our lives to get our attention. All of this, this post, these words were a gift to me this morning. Thinking about my daughter and how to help her, opened my eyes to something I wasn’t even looking for at the moment – my own hurt over no.

And just like that, I’ve been given the tools to work on myself and to help my daughter grow as well. And because Vanessa inspires me every day, I thought to share this here, because maybe someone else needs to hear the words too.

You can read more of Christy’s inspirational stories at:

http://momstronglife.com

Then there is this precious song by Lauren Daigle..What a beautiful reminder!!

Letting go of every single dream
I lay each one down at Your feet
Every moment of my wandering
Never changes what You see
I try to win this war
I confess, my hands are weary, I need Your rest

Mighty warrior, king of the fight
No matter what I face You’re by my side

When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You

Truth is, You know what tomorrow brings
There’s not a day ahead You have not seen
So let all things be my life and breath
I want what You want Lord and nothing less

When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk throughWhen You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You
I will trust in You

You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foudation
The rock on which I stand
Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There’s not a place where I’ll go
You’ve not already stood

When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You

I will trust in You
I will trust in You
I will trust in You

By Lauren Daigle

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for protecting grace! You are so good. You know just what we need and how to care for your children. Help us to trust in Your sweet protection. Help us to lean into Your guidance and follow Your lead and trust you as our good, good Father. In Jesus’name, Amen.

Blessings,

Vanessa Lynn