Do you sit still easily? I believe the Lord may have failed to include the “sit still” gene in my body when He knit me together in my mother’s womb [Psalm 139:13]. I simply don’t sit still well. I know there is a lot to be gleaned from sitting still. The Lord even commands it in Psalm 46:10 when He says “Be still and know I am God.” My mother will tell you I have always had some part of my body in motion at all times and most often it is my mouth. It truly is the way I’m wired.
Well, this year at church camp, I was forced to sit still (well a little anyway). Within the first hour of camp, I fell down a flight of stone stairs. While Grace isn’t my middle name, I can honestly say this could have happened to anyone. Two of the stairs on this staircase were shorter than the others but I didn’t realize it until my body was airborne. I landed on my left foot and began seeing stars. There was no way around it, I was injured. The camp doctor said he felt it was a bad sprain and he wrapped it, gave me crutches and told me to stay off of it and keep it elevated and iced. That would have been great except for the fact I had to do a teaching impact group each morning and I was in charge of the evening activities for the whole camp. Fortunately for me, they had a golf cart and I had a fabulous group of people coming to my aid who did most of the running for me. I, on the other hand, found myself sitting still with my foot elevated and iced.
While I know for certain the Lord didn’t push me down the stairs, He used the situation for His purposes. Since I was immobile for a large part of the day, I found myself in conversations with people I wouldn’t have otherwise spent time with and I experienced some real special ministry opportunities. I could have wallowed in the fact I couldn’t spend a lot of time with the kids because of my injury and missed what the Lord had planned for me, but I’m so glad I didn’t. I had a wonderful time getting to know many of the adults and college students who help with camp. God truly works all things together for good [Romans 8:28]. Before I arrived at camp I felt like the Lord told me things would be different this year. Little did I realize how different. Would I have chosen it? No! No one likes to be injured. Was I blessed by the journey? Absolutely, and you will be to when you decide to be present in whatever situation you find yourself in instead of whining about what things should be like.
Are you in a situation you didn’t sign up for? Did you expect things to go differently than you’re experiencing? Embrace where you are and look for God stops along the way. I promise you no matter where you are and what you’re walking through, He’s with you [Psalm 23:4]. If you look hard enough, you’ll find blessings along the way.