Grateful for the Breadcrumbs

Verse: Romans 8:28 Song: Counting My Blessings by Seph Schlueter

Written by: Jessi Drost

God tells us he will bless us, provide for us, and never abandon us. 

He tells us to not worry, to have no fear, to turn to him in all circumstances. 

As Christians we know this! It’s a popular message in many worship songs, sermons, and of course written over and over throughout His living word. 

But do we really believe it? 

Are we willing to surrender 100% of our life to Him, trusting He will be there for us each step of the way when we truly have no idea where he is taking us? 

I sure thought I was, until one by one, we were stripped of all the idols we were putting our comfort and security in. It’s easy to think you are walking in faith when the paychecks provide a comfortable life for your family, when your bodies are filled with health, and when your babies are sleeping peacefully each night. It’s easy to sing praises to the Lord when life is smooth and steady, but it’s when that path gets bumpy and unclear that we are truly tested and refined. 

It’s the days that we are begging for refuge that we learn to seek our comfort from our heavenly Father. It’s those seasons of breadcrumbs that we learn what it really means to live by faith, and not by sight. That has been this season for us.

A season of breadcrumbs.

A season where the Lord has led us down his path, one crumb at a time.

A season where we often have gone to sleep confused about our circumstances, not knowing how to plan for tomorrow let alone years from now. 

A season where we have learned like never before to cling to each other in pain and in prayer. 

A season where we have learned to lean on wise counsel and God honoring friendships before taking even the smallest step forward. 

A season where we have been humbled enough to rely on others, and ask for help. 

A season where we stopped putting our trust in our own strength and wisdom, and instead learned to put our trust in God.

A season of truly accepting that His ways are greater than our ways. 

A season of learning to be patient, choosing to be grateful for the breadcrumbs, instead of focused only on receiving the whole loaf.

A season where, like the Israelites in the desert, we have at times felt forgotten or abandoned.

A season where time and time again, right on the brink of defeat, God has shown up and completely blown us away with his faithfulness and his plans for our life. 

Finding Good in the Growing Pains

I recently spoke to a friend from Colorado, she commented on how our life looked so perfect from afar. She assumed we moved and everything just fell into place. 

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. 

Girl, nothing has gone as planned. It’s been the hardest season of our walk with the Lord thus far. We’ve had to lean on our faith in Christ like never before, but still my excitement filled response to her assumption that we were unhappy and struggling, was that “we are SO grateful for the struggle! This season has been hard, but it has been so good for our growth! We wouldn’t change it for the world!”

In James 1:2-4, we are taught that “when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (NLT) 

This is presented similarly in 1 Peter 1:6-7, where Peter wrote to the first century Christians to “be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold- though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.” (NLT)

Of course this wouldn’t have been our response a year ago. Our initial desire when we entered this new chapter of our life was for earthly blessings in abundance, and it was hard when the opposite came. 

Earthly blessings are what we are often told to pray for, it’s what we are told success looks like in this world. But we have since learned that earthly blessings are not the only blessings God gives. He too gives the blessing of joy, of contentment, of peace, of healing, of growth, of community, of simple provision. He gives blessings of the soul and spirit, and truthfully those blessings have been far more impactful to us than worldly blessings ever could be.

Who we are today is better than who we were a year and a half ago, and that wouldn’t have happened had it not been for the trials we have faced in this season. We have grown in spiritual maturity, in intimacy within our marriage, in confidence in our spiritual gifts, in unity with other brothers and sisters in Christ, and in our overall walks with the Lord. 

God has used trials to heal us and grow our intimacy with Him, how could we ever not want that to happen? 

He is With You, and His Ways are Greater than Your Ways!

It is so evident to us now that His hand has been on us each step of the way!

He has continuously taken the impossible, and made a way. He has taken our confusion and chaos, and made us confident. He has absolutely left us in awe of His goodness and faithfulness, something we never would have experienced if it weren’t for this difficult season of breadcrumbs. 

We might look around and not understand our circumstances, but maybe we don’t need to know exactly what God is doing; maybe we’re not even supposed to know! Maybe what looks to you like chaos, is actually God’s plans unfolding. 

We might not always understand what He is doing, but we can always know that He is with us. He is always with us, and He is always moving.

The seasons of breadcrumbs can feel defeating, but don’t give in to that defeat. In his timing, God can and will use it for good. 

Lean on His strength, His faithfulness, and His provision. Choose to be grateful for the breadcrumbs, for they are proof that He is with you. And always remember, what is considered good to this world, is nothing compared to the good that God can do for you. 

Surrender your life to Him, and watch all that He can do with a willing and obedient heart.