As
the year begins winding down, most of us start reconciling our goals set at
the beginning of the year with how things actually turned out. It’s a time to give thanks for the things
that exceeded our expectations while learning from the things that didn’t quite
pan out like we thought they would.
Sometimes there are things that we had no idea God even did for us
because we were so oblivious to His hand in our lives at those particular
moments.
So
as I was having a reflective moment, I thought of something I’d experienced and
chuckled to myself. It was towards the
end of my third stay in the hospital when the nurse came in to change my linen and my
gown as usual. I’d been wearing a yellow
gown for the past several days, but this time when she changed my gown, she
changed me into a blue gown. The next
day when she came to change my gown again, I very innocently asked, “May I have
another yellow gown? I like the bright
yellow color better.” She replied, “Do
you feel like you’re going to fall when you stand up?” Confused, I replied, “No.” Then she said, “The yellow gown is for
patients who are at risk of falling. It
alerts the nurses to keep a special eye on you if you get out of the bed, and
someone will always walk with you, even though you have a walker.”
Wow! I had no idea the color of my gown signified
if I was at risk of falling or not. I
was also completely oblivious to the fact that God had strengthened me beyond “yellow gown status” to “blue gown status”.
He can be so subtle in walking with us, that we don’t even know when He
changed our status, we just look up one day and realize He did!
This
situation made me examine other areas of my life where God had strengthened my
walk. As I began to look closely, I saw
so many situations in my life where God has moved me from the “yellow gown” to
the ”blue gown” without me even recognizing the moment it happened. He saw the signs in various areas of my life
where I was at risk of falling and He patiently walked with me to keep me safe.
As we reflect on this year alone, consider the countless risks God has walked through with us, keeping us from falling. Consider the many blessings He has given
us while we were completely unaware of the shift along the way. The fact of the matter is, He never leaves
us. So as we come to a close of this year
and enter into a new one, walk with assurance that He is there to keep us in
all our ways.
He
is to able to keep you from stumbling. Jude 1:24(a)
Have
a blessed 2020!
Love
Always,
