At first glance, the Facebook post from a friend seemed worth only a quick glance and warm smile: A picture of our beaming, beautiful friend Stephanie standing next to nice-looking young man on stage at an awards show. (No, not the Oscars. Though I would not at all be surprised to see her win an Academy Award someday.)

The caption expressed Stephanie’s joy at being able to be present at an award with “my man.” “Aw, that’s nice,” I thought. “I’m happy for her.”

Then a lightbulb went off. That’s the guy she met while doing a play at a theater in Bedford, Texas. Oh, how she hated being in that play. The director treated her like an ignorant piece of dirt. Her co-star was arrogant, ungiving and absent for many for rehearsals. The people running the theater and most of the cast wanted nothing to do with her. The play itself was also awful. If I recall correctly, even the popcorn was stale.

Stephanie was miserable. She dreaded every night. She wanted to quit. “Why am I doing this?!” But she’s a pro so she soldiered on, gradually forming a friendship with one of the actors. After the show thankfully ended its run, romance blossomed.

So is Stephanie glad she did the show now or what? Did God add an unexpected blessing at the end of that painful run?

He does that, doesn’t he?

The Muck of Texas

Last Saturday, I was out with other men from my church clearing fallen branches from some church property. While dragging some branches up a hill, a fellow I’d just met asked, “Do you like being in Texas?”  I didn’t answer right away. For one thing, the question he should have asked is, “Do you need oxygen?” or “Man, just how bad a shape are you in?”

Seriously, I have a tough time with the question. Our four years in Texas have been a struggle. We’ve seen an unending series of deaths and family dysfunctions, along with betrayals and cruelty that have us muttering, “At least in L.A. no one pretends to be pious before stabbing you in the back.” We’ve had doors inexplicably slammed in our face. Rugs pulled out. We’ve wrestled with a fixer-upper where no initial fix ever goes right. At bedtime we count mosquitoes instead of sheep. My wife, at God’s prompting, gave up her acting career when it was going better than ever, to … well …  well … He hasn’t said yet.

And we miss very much being around my family, and trees and mountains and water. This isn’t home.

Yet, enough good — even miraculous — things have happened in Texas to prove we were not forsaken. To prove His hand is on our lives. That He has indeed ordered our steps, even if those steps take us through a field loaded with cow patties.

The Lord Has Us Where He Wants Us

We are disciples. That means we follow Christ. We are sheep following the Shepherd. And so we are guided … in our case to Dallas/Ft. Worth.

God had to be thinking of Texas when He said, through the prophet Isaiah: “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”(Isaiah 58:11)

Paul echoes the point, saying, “Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)  

Sure, sometimes amid His wonderful showering the world throws down hail. And that hail can smash up your “watered garden.” I can show you the damaged flower beds.

No Asterisk

However, even the hail the Lord turns into hallelujah’s. 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

This is why Paul tells us to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thesselonians 5:16-18)

The “all” doesn’t come with an asterisk. 

Whatever field He has placed you in at this hour, I pray you will understand how firmly He has you in his care. He has not dumped you and driven on down the road. He’s there with you. His work and will is being done. There is purpose for your placement, even if like some episode of Fixer Upper, you have to wait until the hour’s up for the great “reveal.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says it best: “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”