^4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. (James 4:13-14a ESV)

By: Scott Schuler

Divorce. It’s one of those words I never thought would describe me. But there I was, 53, divorced and no idea what was next. All my plans landed in the county dump—literally.

Do your plans always work out the way you intend?

Or, does life throw you curve balls from a direction you never predicted?

As I processed through shock, loss and anger, I turned to the only One who could truly help me heal. Over the next two years, God allowed slivers of hope like sun piercing through stormy clouds. He painted numerous rainbows in the sky, reminding me I was at the end of troubles and on the verge of new things.

During this time of healing and regrouping, I sensed God asking me a question: “What do you want?” After “hearing” this repeatedly in my soul, I asked my good friend, who is a Christian counselor and pastor, if God really could be asking me what I wanted. “Of course!” he said.

Wow—imagine the Creator of the universe asking me what I wanted?

I didn’t consider the question as a vending machine, ask-and-you-shall-receive type of question. God was talking about my heart’s desire. After much deliberation and prayer, I wrote out my short answer to God: I want to spend the rest of my life serving Jesus.

In hindsight (20/20, right?), it’s easy to see God’s plan of redemption was already in the works. He was just waiting for me to align my desire with His. And then, another wonderfully unexpected curve ball dropped into my life.

God sent me Lory, my crazy awesome wife, and two amazing kids.

And He began a story of redemption in all our lives. Another curve ball none of us saw coming.

So, what do you do with these life events that knock the wind out of you? First, take one. breath. at. a. time. Then, turn to God. Your Healer and Redeemer. And the only One who knows “what tomorrow will bring.”

Let’s face it, either we’ve just been hit by a curve ball, or we will be.

That’s life. Our response to the circumstances can help us grow in the nurturing soil of God’s redeeming work.

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