I have always loved the song "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. The melody and lyrics are simply beautiful. I first heard it as a country song several years ago, and instantly it reminded me of my journey to the amazing man I get to call my husband. The song read as a love story for me.
Then a few months ago, I heard the same song on a Christian radio station and it touched a whole new part of my heart. You see for as long as I can remember I have always believed in God. Despite growing up in a secular home, I believed in the existence of God and Heaven. Although, I did not attend church, read the Bible, pray or even adhere to a Christian lifestyle, I still felt as if I knew God and He knew me. Even though I attended "pioneer girls" with a neighborhood friend at her church, sang in the children's choir at that church and was even married in a church, no one ever spoke the Good News to me. All I knew of Jesus was that he was a cute baby, born in a manger and because of that we got presents Christmas morning.
So when I heard this song as a new-Christian, the message was so different. It spoke to me on a new level. It was a different love story this time. It was God leading me to His Son! This verse will always stand out for me:
I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true
Yes a part of me aches for not knowing Jesus sooner. I can easily spend hours ruminating over how my life would have been different if I had only known Jesus earlier. I would love to be able to give my Savior back all those years, to have been His sooner. But that was not His plan.
When I finally did give my life to Jesus, His smile radiated through my entire being, His arms were wrapped around me and He eventually took me by the hand. He has walked this fallen earth, and what comfort and joy there is in knowing that, so He does not judge me for not coming to Him earlier, He understands the forces that pull His children away from Him. But despite all of those forces, God's plan was greater and grander and yes His plan did come true!
A scripture verse I clung to early on and continue to cling to now is,"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."(Jeremiah 29:11). When I can keep my focus on God's plan for me, the broken road no longer seems as painful or as unfair. For there is such beauty in His plans.
Being able to look back now, I look at every depressed moment, every anxiety and panic attack, every nightmare and flashback, every frustrating medical appointment, every ineffective and debilitating medication, every hour of therapy, every lost friendship as a declaration of God's never-ending, forever-love for me and all of His children. Because, all of those pieces make up the broken road that led me straight to Jesus!
So today, can you see God's love and blessings during times of pain, struggle and confusion? Do you truly believe that God will bless the broken road? Do you believe in His plan for you?
