When your path takes a different direction

I have been thinking during this Advent season about Mary and how her life took a very different path than the one she had been expecting.  As a young girl she must have dreamed about one day getting married, having children and settling into a peaceful family life and all this changed when she received a visit from the angel telling her she had been chosen to carry God's son.  And yet despite the change to her own plans she was humble and obedient to God's call on her life saying, 'I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said.'

It made me think about the times when our own plans and dreams don't turn out the way we expect and how we react to the change in direction.  Some changes occur through decisions or choices we make - about who we marry, where we work, how we spend our money and time or how we react to people around us.  Other changes are forced upon us - when illness, tragedy, redundancy or bereavement strike, when we wait for passionate prayers to be answered or when things don't turn out the way we hoped.  How do we react when our lives change unexpectedly?

People react in different ways - some people react with bitterness, anger, fear or resentment while others seem to be at peace in their hearts and seem to have an inner strength to cope.  I know that in my own life when there have been changes of direction both chosen and forced upon me, it has driven me closer to God as I have reached out for him and sought his comfort, strength and peace.   That doesn't mean that I haven't wrestled with the 'why' of events or that there has been an easy way through grief or pain, but I have discovered that it is ok to feel what I feel and struggle as I come to terms with things. Thankfully though, I have always ended up at a place of peace so that I can say with the hymn writer, whatever happens, it is well with my soul.

None of us know what tomorrow brings or what changes lay ahead in our lives but I pray that we will all, like Mary, be given the strength to deal with what lies before us and overcome by the power and strength of the Lord and that we will look for ways to help each other along.  If you have any issues you would value prayer for then please do let me know so we can keep you in our thoughts.

Wishing everyone a peaceful Christmas and a fruitful and blessed new year.