When You’re Waiting for God to Fill the Gaps
If you’re stopping by from “Encouragement for Today,” welcome!
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Today, over at Proverbs 31 Ministries, I’m talking about trusting God even when life feels difficult.
If you haven’t read my devotion, “When Potholes Fill Your Path,” you can find it here.
If you’re looking for the free printable of Pothole Prayers, keep reading. You’ll find it at the end of this post!
In the meantime, I hope you’ll discover a second dose of inspiration here at The Overflow.
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The path was well marked in the beginning.
The trail was wide and groomed, and sunbeams waltzed through the cracks of the emerald tree-tops, creating spotlights for our steps.
We followed along with ease, the kids skipping and singing and chatting as we went.
But then the road narrowed and the underbrush grew gnarled and dense.
Broken tree limbs snagged our toes and fallen branches blocked our steps.
Before we knew it, the broad footpath had morphed into a snaking gulch.
And we found ourselves slogging along the edge of a gully filled with murky water and muddy stones.
My five year old’s sandal sunk in the slime and my shoestring got tangled in a jumble of tree roots and thorns.
Maggie began to wail, her flair for the dramatic coloring that drab gulch with some red-hot howls.
We’re NEVER going to get out of here!
We’re NEVER going to make it home.
Were we really on the right path?
When we’d started, the trail had seemed straightforward and simple.
But suddenly, I wasn’t sure about our next step. Or the next hundred steps after that.
“How are we going to get across this huge puddle?” Josh asked, his toes sinking in the mud beneath the knee-deep water.
His green eyes scoured the opposite bank for an exit route and his forehead wrinkled up in a worried scrunch.
“There will be a way,” I said with more confidence than I felt, and I stood in the middle of the mud and began to pray.
That’s when Hannah spotted it- a log stretching from one side of the muddy trench to the other.
It didn’t look like an effortless climb, but it was a way to reach the other side.
My girl stepped tentatively on the rotting wood and immediately dropped to her knees.
The log wobbled beneath her weight, but she clung to the wet, musty bark and shimmied across.
Cautiously, her brother followed.
And there, on the other side of that fallen log and up a small incline carpeted with decomposing leaves and lacy spider webs, was a clearly-marked trail.
Dry and wide, with golden streaks of sunshine beckoning us home.
We walked out of the woods with polka-dots of mud decorating our legs and briars clinging to our clothes, and as the clouds above us burst with rain, I had a peculiar feeling of familiarity.
I’d never traversed those woods before, where the path twisted and tapered and the rainwater pooled deep in the rocky ravines, but I have followed Jesus down trails that looked leisurely and lush, only to find myself standing in a gulch where the gap looms big and my faith shrinks small.
I’ve been stuck in the mud of my own uncertainty and doubts, and like my littlest hiker, I’ve wailed for a rescue and wondered if I’d ever find my way.
But just as we found that old log stretched across our boggy cleft in the perfect time, so my Savior has always bridged the gaps at His appointed hour .
That’s who He is, you know.
““I am the Way—yes, and the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6)
And on those days when I can’t see a road from here to there, the One who laid down His life for me becomes The Road .
And He invites me to crawl by faith and find that His promises hold.
And that the path of His choosing always leads us home.
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Have you been there, too? In that place of uncertainty and fear? Have you followed along the path God has laid, only to find yourself plodding through the mud of confusion or wading through a gully of disappointment? If so, you’re not alone.
I don’t know the specifics of your journey or how God is going to bridge your gap, but I do know this–
Wherever life finds you today–sitting in the bottom of a gully or clinging to the edge of a rotting log–God can make a way.
And we can travel together, cheering one another across the gulch.
Click here for your free printable
And don’t hesitate to leave me a prayer request in the comments, so I can pray you across those potholes, too!
I know this post is a few days old. (Okay, a lot of days old). Sometimes in the run of a day, I don’t have time to read all of my Proverbs 31 emails the same day as they arrive in my inbox. That’s okay, though, because God knows when I need to read certain ones and it’s always perfect timing. I read this one this morning, 21 days after it was sent to me. And it spoke to my heart in so many ways. When you were crying over your peanut butter sandwhich – that right there – I’ve done that. Over and over and over again this fall. And my children are in grade 2 and 4! But I have one little boy who is just the sweetest, most charming dude and he struggles in school so much. I’ve had that same thought as to “I don’t know how he is going to make it through this year and I don’t know how to help him!” I have had those same anxious thoughts and worries. THANK YOU for reminding me that it’s God’s job! Really love your blog, will subscribe and be back. Thanks for blessing me today!
Thank you very much for your heart-felt sharing!! & your generous heart to pray for others!! It is an awesome timely msg for me. I realised i’m not alone in this. God is indeed faithful, He doesnt want me to give up following Him! (So glad i read your msg) Am learning how to walk by Faith not by sight. Pls pray for me to have faith to Follow His plan me & for financial provisions, closeness with Him to know His heart & plans. That i will not enter the ‘wrong door’ & only the Doors He opens for me, i dont want to miss His provisions. Since June 2013 i hv been in tough times one after another & out of job for more than 1-year. I pray daily as I really have to totally depend on His Help. (Jer 29:11) thank you very much!!♡♡
thank you for this. I am navigating through a divorce with an unfaithful and at times abusive husband who is demanding spousal support and custody of our 5-year-old daughter. am thankful for God’s grace that has carried us thus far, and am praying for a speedy and fair settlement with primary custody so my daughter and I can start a new life.
“God can make a way” – no matter how many trials we go through, logs we cling to, bottoms of gully’s we find ourselves in, He will always make a way, and, in our humanness, we will always need to be reminded of this. Thank you for reminding us here. Can’t wait to check out your pot hole prayers and share them with a loved one today!
Though this devotional was yesterday’s I read it this morning. I asked God to put a word on my heart and I found it through the devotional. Please stand with me in prayer as I stand in the gap for my younger brother who is struggling with alcoholism, smoking, failure to complete university. I believe God is making a way for Him. Thank you Daphne
Daphne, I AM standing with you in prayer right now! It’s so hard to watch people we love struggle. Your brother’s blessed to have a sister who is willing to claim God’s promises for Him. I love that God promises His word won’t return void. “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” So, I’m praying these words of God over your brother today and asking that God will give your brother a deep desire to seek Him—Jeremiah 29:13, the Message
“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree. “I’ll turn things around for you”
Please pray I will finally trust God and follow Him i/o doing things my way and continually growing more hurt, bitter, and angry. I am very hard headed! Thank you for the great word.
lc, I think that if you’re “hard-headed” you’re in good company! Every time I read the gospels, I think about how hard-headed some of Jesus’ disciples were 🙂 May God capture your head and your heart and give you the desire to follow Him wholly. And, then, He can use your determination for His glory!
Thank you for today’s encouragement. Definately stumbling over a painful detour after leaving an abusive marriage. Now being financially drained as I battle to keep my child safe. And blocked from moving in order to get a better job. Life is better but the am starting to falter. Again, thank you.
Lila, I am thankful you are safe, and I am praying that God will turn your detour into a journey of freedom and hope. Specifically, I am asking Him to be your Protector and Provider. May He show Himself BIG and Mighty in the days ahead, and may He lavish you with His love. May you be encouraged by His promise in 2 Cor 12:9- “My grace is enough; it’s all you need.My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”
Excellent! Very well said…You have no idea how much I needed to read this today.
May God bless you greatly.
Thanks, Anne. I’m so glad you stopped by.
i just signed on for your overflow & pothole prayers; i would love some prayers sent my way ; looking
for some guidance on a few job opportunities…thanks…kathy
Praying James 1:5 for you, Kathy- May God give you wisdom generously and open wide the door He wants you to walk through in the days ahead.
Beautiful thoughts, friend. I’m sharing this on my church women’s ministry site today!
Thanks for sharing, Becky!
Thank you for sharing God’s word and allowing God to speak through you. Such a significant word of encouragement that I needed to hear today. I’m amazed at God and it makes me smile 🙂 As the song says…. The God of Angel Armies is always by my side!
I am enjoying your site very much! I am definetley in a hole. i need prayer for a situation I am in, to confess my sin, and not repeat it. That’s my problem: I keep doing it. Please pray for me to have self control self discipline. Thank you!
Carla, I’m praying that Jesus will give you the self-control you need, that He will fill you with more of the Holy Spirit and that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to turn from your sin and live in sweet freedom. Claiming Romans 8:37 for you today- “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Thank you! This was much needed. My son in finishing up Basic Trainig for the Army National Guard! I couldn’t be prouder of him & his accomplishments, but he is my only child & there are so many ways things can go from here…
Venus Ann, I’m praying that God will direct your son’s paths and that your son will be kept safe as the God of Angel Armies protects him and leads him.And I’m asking that same mighty God to hold your heart in perfect peace as you entrust your only child’s life in His hands.
Thanks Anne. I really needed this today.
Love the pothole prayers! I printed them out and plan to read them frequently.
I’m praying right along with you, Dede.
Found your devotional about potholes on Bible Gateway today and came here to print out the pothole prayers. Thanks, I needed that today.