Coping with Crisis
HOME | Grief & Loss | Hope & Encouragement | Stories of Coping | Tools for Coping
Every time I looked at my left hand, it felt empty without that beautiful diamond ring we had picked out. I felt as if I had nothing left. God had stripped away the very thing I had been working so hard for. We were almost there. We had almost made it. And then it was all gone.
I set aside some of those hurt feelings and the anger I felt at God and lay down on the nappy carpet of my California apartment. I knew that when times got really tough, we should cry out to God. So I picked up my Bible off my bedside table and started reading. Daily.
The more I read the stories of people in the Bible going on big journeys and being asked to do really big things, the more I saw them move when God said move and wait when God said wait. But they weren’t always good at knowing the difference, and sometimes they moved when God said wait and waited when God said move. But I could see that good things happened when they listened to God. And bad things happened when they didn’t.
Maybe I needed to do this too—listen to what God’s direction was for my life before charging ahead full speed or trying to change course to feel more comfortable. I wanted to call Neil back and tell him that I had made a mistake in breaking up, that we could remain together while he did some deep soul-searching about his future. I wanted to move, chase after Neil, and get that dream of being married back on the table.
Instead, I got really quiet and tried to listen for God’s direction. When I read about God’s promise to the currently barren Sarah and Abraham that they would have generations of children, I heard “wait.” After reading about Daniel in the pit with the lions yet remaining untouched, I heard “stand down.” I heard “keep your hands off” when God instructed his people not to touch the ark of the covenant as they carried it through the desert and into the land promised to them.
When the ark started to wobble because the oxen carrying it stumbled, a man reached out to steady it—ultimately touching the ark—and he was struck down dead. I felt a parent’s angst and heartbreak as a father ran after Jesus, upset that his daughter was dying, knowing that Jesus could save her. Instead of rushing to heal the girl, Jesus lingered a few more days, and I heard “I know it doesn’t look like it, but I’ve got this in my control.”
It seemed obvious that God was telling me to keep my hands at my sides. I shouldn’t touch the situation and try to make it work out in my favor. I should leave it alone and watch him move the pieces around the chessboard to make everything still work out in my favor. After all, everything he does is for our good.
These two commands—“stand down,” coming from God, and “charge forward,” coming from me—were at war with each other.
Have you been there too? The seas are raging, and your boat is rocking. This boat you built for yourself was supposed to take you to where you wanted to be—where your dreams lived. Dreams of getting married, being a mom, earning the degree, retiring early. But then a storm hits out of nowhere. He calls and breaks up with you. You struggle to get pregnant. You unexpectedly fail the last class you need to graduate. You lose your job two years before you’d planned to retire. You couldn’t have seen any of it coming, but the clouds have rolled in, and the hail is hitting hard. This sudden storm in the middle of the journey was not in the plan, and now your boat is rocking out of control.
We don’t like it, of course. No one likes being out in the open ocean in the middle of a storm. It’s tempting to ask God why he would let us be on this boat in the first place. What kind of God would allow his child to experience such a storm?
We look for where Jesus is amid this storm and, just as the disciples did in Matthew 8:24, we see him sleeping. Sleeping! Can you believe it? How could he be sleeping? It’s incomprehensible that anyone could sleep through the thunder and the waves and the rain. But he is. And since he is, it must mean that we need to fix everything ourselves because it doesn’t look as if he’s going to do anything about it. But here’s what we miss when the waves are billowing up over the edge of the boat and drenching us as we hold on to the sides with all our might. This rocking boat in the middle of the storm is not out of control at all. It’s completely within his control. Completely.
Share:
Taken from A Better Life: Slowing Down to Get Ahead by Rebecca Smith.
The founder of Better Life Bags, Rebecca Smith, teaches you how to take little steps, say yes when God calls, and follow the passion He has given you. As you read this inspiring story, you will discover how to hear and follow God's voice for yourself as you slow down, take one small step at a time, and make a difference in the world right where you are.
Let love stretch you. As the founder of one of the most popular custom handbag companies in the country, Rebecca Smith knows a thing or two about business. A highly successful entrepreneur in a world where the focus is on scalability, brand strategy, and global marketing, Rebecca Smith also knows the truth: that every success she's experienced at Better Life Bags has been the result of very small, very ordinary, very obedient steps of faith.
Moving from Savannah, Georgia, to Hamtramck, Michigan, was culture shock enough for Rebecca. But trying to feel at home in a city where twenty-six different languages were spoken and most of the inhabitants were immigrants seemed downright impossible. It was only when Rebecca recognized that God had called her to this specific neighborhood at this particular moment in time that his plans began to unfold for her. Stepping forward into the place God had called her — a place that seemed messy and uncomfortable and unfamiliar — Rebecca discovered the true secret to success: when we slow down, pay attention, and trust that still, small voice of God to guide us, we just might change the world.
Though Rebecca never set out to build a brand or create an empire, God saw Rebecca's heart for others, and began to multiply her efforts in ways she could have never imagined, creating a company where women from different cultures, faiths, and backgrounds work together for the good of others — for a better life.
Rebecca Smith is the founder of Better Life Bags, a custom handbag company whose workforce is made up of local women with barriers to employment.
Rebecca loves to encourage and coach young entrepreneurs who desire to use their businesses for good. She is passionate about reminding women that when it comes to pursuing dreams, waiting on God’s nudges always beats hustling hard. It’s okay being the turtle; life is better when it’s slow.
Rebecca and her husband, Neil, live in Hamtramck, MI where they run Better Life Bags together. They have four amazing kids: Jonah, Clara, Corbin, and Gavin.
Want More?
Sign up for the Zondervan Books Weekly and receive the PDF eBook Daily Power: The First 31 Days by Craig Groeschel, taken from Craig's devotional Daily Power: 365 Days of Fuel for Your Soul.
With the Zondervan Books weekly email newsletter, you’ll enjoy helpful articles by inspiring Zondervan authors, sample new and upcoming books, and more. With your subscription, be prepared to find more incredible books for your reading list and/or audiobooks for your listening list.
