God Doesn’t Blink

Yesterday I shared Regina Brett’s 45 Life Lessons and I’ve heard back from a few of you that they spoke to you as they did to me.

 

Hurray! Isn’t it awesome to know you’re not alone in this life and that your opinion is validated? It makes me so happy when that happens!

 

(Truth is, I like it when people agree with me. When people appreciate what I suggest, it makes me feel like I can’t possibly be as crazy as the lady in my college town who wore tin foil wrapped around her head to channel “the voices.”)

 

One of Brett’s Life Lessons is sticking with me: “Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.”

 

There’s a chance I’m simply a spontaneous person, but things change quickly around here. For example, I met and married my husband in less than six months… only a year ago there were less than three weeks between being fully, happily employed with no plans for major change and packing a moving van and moving across the country to be near family.

 

When thinks happen around here, they happen quickly — in the blink of an eye!

 

I want to remind you of a story:

 

The Bible tells about a man named Jacob who wrestled with one of God’s angels all night long. Jacob refused to cry, “Uncle!” and stop wrestling, even though his opponent was, well, an angel! In the end the angel finally asked what he wanted and Jacob answered, “I will not let you go until you bless me!”

 

So the angel blessed him.

 

Stick with me here…

 

When I look at events of my life some of them have made sense, some have been chaotic. Some have brought immediate joy, while others have required a delicate concoction of cryptography and time to understand.

 

In the midst of this… living… I have, at times, suspected God blinked. I’ve been convinced that for a moment in time He stopped paying attention to my circumstances, decided to involve Himself elsewhere, or just wanted to get a bit of a chuckle as he watched me “pull myself up by my bootstraps,” so to speak.

 

Yesterday when I read Regina’s words, “Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks,” two arrows shot into my consciousness.

 

1. God doesn’t blink.

 

Ever.

 

He is aware. He cares. He carries the blueprints of our lives.

 

I may not understand His silence or timing and He may allow horrible situations to take place… but He’s not uninvolved in my life. He doesn’t blink.

 

2. It’s OK to wrestle with God.

 

Just as Jacob persistently wrestled all night with the angel, it is perfectly acceptable to wrestle with God… that wrestle match might take a moment or the whole long, dark night of the soul.

 

But remember what happened in the end after Jacob wrestled all night?

 

He received God’s blessing.

 

I don’t talk about this stuff very often; poop stories, children’s quirks and my embarrassing moments are much more safe to share with everyone. After all, you’re never supposed to discuss religion or politics in polite company!

 

I’m breaking that rule because I realized something stunningly simply and complex, all at once.

 

Do you get what I got? Jacob received God’s blessing because he refused to back down. God’s blessing is better than anything we can orchestrate or mastermind on our own – and it’s something each of us can receive.

 

I want that.

 

If you happen to be in a season of life right now where it feels like repeatedly slamming your head into a brick wall would be preferable to simply waking up each day I want to encourage you:

 

God doesn’t blink. You have been seen. Now start wrestling… and don’t even think about giving up until you’ve secured the blessing!

 

The blessing is good.

 

(But people be very cautious about wearing those silly spandex wrestling outfits. Yoga pants and a t-shirt will be A-OK instead. Promise.)

 

Can you see a place where wrestling with God resulted in an amazing growth pattern for you?