Shortly after I broke off my first engagement and was nursing a broken heart, I moved to a new city, took a new job, and had no friends.
I was Christian enough to find a good Bible teaching church, but lived forty minutes away from that church. It was a dark time in my life for a while. I felt alone and broken.
It didn’t take long for me to understand that God loves the brokenhearted. In the darkness of my apartment God met me in ways I didn’t see coming. In Hosea 2:14 God says this:
“I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.”
I was thrown into a wilderness but the Lord found me. I was in the valley of trouble, and I was given hope. Brokenness is the best place to be if you’re looking to thrive. I was broken, but was well on my way toward the life that thrives.
Now all I had to do was figure out how to fit into my local church. Sunday after Sunday I showed up to church, sat on the third row, and left without as much as talking to anyone. My faith was growing as I fed on God’s Word. My love for the Lord was burning, but I couldn’t understand His people. Not only did I not connect with the church at large, but I didn’t connect with the singles group either.
So I floundered for a few months. I questioned the Lord. I felt pretty sorry for myself. I thought of changing churches. I spent a lot of time scoping out churches on the web. I joined eHarmony for the first time.
And still I felt alone and isolated in a church designed for couples.
One day, as I sat in my room and prayed, a funny thought crossed my mind. What if instead of waiting for others to talk to me at church, I took the initiative and talked to them? What if instead of being ministered to and led, I took it upon myself to minister to others?
I certainly knew the Lord well enough to serve in His church, and I was slowly but surely learning to trust His unwavering character. What did I have to lose?
The next Sunday I did it. I actually talked to the person to my right. I participated in the Sunday School class. A few weeks later I shared my testimony in a Bible study. Next thing I knew, I was being asked to teach a tiny (five people) women’s Bible study.
Me? Teach a Bible Study? I was the least likely person qualified to do it. Yet God often reminds me that His plans are way different than mine, but they’re always for my best!
