When Things Are Going Wrong…God Still Has Your Back

This past weekend my family spent a couple of days at the lake in a rented cabin. Eric was competing in a fishing tournament, and we had an annual family reunion to attend as well. So we had decided to just make a family weekend of it. Boy, did it get off to a rocky start though with everything seemingly going wrong!

Today I thought I would share what I wrote in my Saturday morning quiet time journal entry while at the lake. I wanted to convey how even in the midst of things going wrong right and left, that God still sees us, takes care of us, and even rescues us.

I started my journal entry Saturday morning saying that I was thankful for finally having a semi-peaceful moment to relax after a not-so-good start to the weekend. Then I proceeded to list all the stuff that had been going wrong…

It started going wrong with a late start

Eric went to the lake early, and we stayed behind to attend my niece’s birthday party that evening. This meant that I was responsible for getting myself, the kids, and the dogs packed and loaded to go by myself. This can be a somewhat stressful task, in and of itself, even without anything going wrong. Unfortunately, we got off to a later start that night than I had originally wanted, and we still had an hour and a half drive ahead of us.

Tire trouble

A warning light was coming on in my car to indicate low tire pressure. Apparently one of the tires on my car has a slow leak. Eric said I should probably go to a gas station and air it up before heading out of town. At the gas station I proceeded to use the hose provided to try to air the tire up. It seemed like it was taking FOREVER, and there was a car waiting behind me, the driver getting visibly frustrated. I checked the tire pressure again, and it had actually gone down not up. Fabulous.

After a couple of phone calls to Eric, some help from my son, and the waiting car speeding off angrily (without offering me any help, mind you), I finally figured out I was neglecting to squeeze a trigger handle thingy (that’s my technical term for it). I had been letting the air OUT of my tire, not filling it. When I started doing it correctly, it filled pretty quickly. Whew! Now we could leave.

Got lost

Evidently the cabin where we stayed didn’t have a physical address to where a GPS navigation would accurately direct/find. Eric took a screenshot on Google Maps (even though mine looked different on my phone). I dropped a pin into my phone maps and had Siri direct me from there. Don’t ever trust Siri. She wasn’t my friend this weekend. Needless to say, I got lost…a lot…in the dark…very late at night…in a strange place. Oh, and by the way did I mention that I typically don’t see well at night? I’m also a bit directionally-challenged (as I’ve mentioned before). It was a bad combination putting all those things together.

On a side note, can I just say that these lake residences really just need to get their act together? I mean, really. There’s no lighting on the roads. There are no road signs (and on GPS it looks like you’re driving in a field!). If you take the wrong street there are no turnarounds. I may or may not have driven on a few lawns and barely missed a few trees and mailboxes. And if all that wasn’t enough going wrong so far…

Eric wasn’t answering his phone

After taking too many wrong turns to count and screaming at Siri numerous times (as if she could actually hear and understand me), I made it back to a church parking lot on a main street. Throughout some of the wrong turns, I had tried calling Eric, but there was no answer. Beyond frustrated, I decided to park the car and keep calling until he answered. I assumed he had fallen asleep at this point and didn’t hear his phone (he tends to do that). I kept calling to no avail. Grrrr! I won’t even begin to describe how irate I was at this point. It also didn’t help to have 2 arguing kids and 2 dogs in the back seat. Then on top of that one of the dogs decided to get car sick and vomit on the floorboard.

I had just about resolved to turn around and drive back home (to STAY), when I remembered that Eric probably had his business phone on him too. So then I started taking turns calling one phone then the other. It worked! He heard his business phone and called me back. Poor Eric. Boy, did he get an earful! In his defense, he hadn’t fallen asleep. Actually, his personal phone never rang due to lack of cell phone reception. He arrived at the church a few minutes later, and we followed him back to the cabin. Though after following him, I knew that there was no way I would be able to remember how to find my way out of there. I told Eric that I probably wouldn’t be able to make it to the family reunion on my own the next day.

The cabin wasn’t…great

The cabin was “quaint”. I couldn’t see the view yet, but the inside was just okay. It was missing a few necessities. It was also a bit unclean in a few areas and needed some updating. Overall, it was a bit disappointing, especially for the price. Honestly though, I was too tired, angry, and frazzled at that point with everything that was going wrong to care too much. It was better than sleeping in my car.

Didn’t sleep too well

When I was finally able to get to bed, I didn’t sleep great. The bed was uncomfortable and squeaky. I was freezing cold. Bless his heart, Eric was snoring a bit and crowding me to the edge of the bed. Then once I did get to sleep, Eric got a random phone call at 4:00am waking me back up again. Sigh.

The dogs pooped all over the cabin

The next morning the kids took the dogs out on a walk. According to the kids, the dogs only went potty and wouldn’t poop. Well…either the kids didn’t walk them long enough or the dogs decided to save it all up as a “welcome-to-the-lake” present. They proceeded to poop all over the tiny cabin. By the way, this was HIGHLY unusual—they are house-trained and NEVER do this!!

The icing on the cake? One of them pooped right on the side of my book bag and into one of the side pockets of the bag…like it was some kind of souvenir I was supposed to take home! Are you kidding me!?

What now?

I guess I don’t really need to tell you that this was NOT a good start to the weekend. As I was sitting out on the deck reading and writing, I looked at the seven negative things going wrong I had just written. I decided that since I listed seven bad things, I needed to list at least seven good things to cancel them out. Gratitude overcomes negativity and bad circumstances. 

So here are the seven good things I wrote…

1. It’s beautiful

Our cabin deck view turned out to be beautiful that next morning when I could actually see. It really was pretty on the water. It’s a beautiful lake. I had a wonderful deck to lounge on with shade trees, a nice breeze, birds chirping, distant sounds of boats on the lake, and a beautiful sunny day.

2. Time to relax

I had TIME to just sit and relax! There was nowhere I needed to be right at that moment. I wasn’t feeling rushed. It was okay to just sit, read my bible, write in my journal and relax…in no certain time frame.

3. The cabin is waaaay better than a tent

I would much prefer to stay in a less-than-ideal cabin than in a tent. Especially after all that was going wrong, I needed some creature comforts. We had air-conditioning and indoor plumbing with a toilet, shower and kitchen sink. There was a refrigerator to store our food and an oven to cook/reheat it. AND…thank goodness…a coffee maker!! 🙂

4. Not of lot of additional cooking or work required of me

I premade a few things for the weekend, so most of my work was already done. I didn’t have to do a lot of cooking or work once we got there.

5. No television

It might seem like a weird positive, but it was nice not to have the distraction of a TV. It forced the kids to be creative in play and use their brains. I always tell them too much TV and video games will rot their brain! It also forced the kids to get along and build their relationship.

6. Good health

Everyone was healthy, feeling good, and not sick (well, except for Lucy’s car sickness incident). I can’t imagine how awful it would be to be on a getaway weekend and have someone sick. Sickness is already no fun but especially when you’re not at home.

7. Thankful to bring the dogs

It was nice that we had a pet-friendly cabin and were allowed to bring the dogs along…those crazy, poop-and-vomit-infested creatures! It’s actually nice having them around. It’s also nice not to have to find someone to watch them or pay for boarding them.

8. Just enough phone coverage (I added #8 to the list for good measure!)

I had just enough of a signal to be able to read my bible on my phone (without having to rely on my limited downloaded versions).

What happened next…

The cool part is what happened next. Literally right after I finished writing down the eight things I was grateful for, Eric’s parents pulled into the driveway at the cabin. I thought Eric must have called them because I had told him the night before that I wouldn’t be able to remember or find my way out to be able to go to the family reunion unless his parents came and picked us up or let us follow them. He hadn’t called them though. They just “randomly” showed up. They didn’t even have directions on how to get there.

Previously, Eric had made a few comments to them about the general location of the cabin and the owner’s name. His parents recalled his comments and decided to just drive out to try to find it. They did.

And I don’t believe it was random either. I believe God led them there…for me, because He knew I needed that. He sent them there to help me so I could find my way out and so I could go to the reunion. I believe that God saw me and saw my frustrations. He knew I was starting to have a bad weekend because of the events taking place. Yes, they were trivial in the big scheme of things. But God cares about the little things too. Their showing up was a sign to me that God had my back. He saw me…and He rescued me. 

Take Some Practical Steps When Things Are Going Wrong:

• Know that God cares about the little things, He takes care of you, and He has your back.

God loves you. God sees you. He sees your frustrations when things are going wrong. Sometimes He’ll come to the rescue when you least expect it. However, you might miss it if you don’t pay attention and/or if you keep a bad attitude. Sometimes those small coincidences are messages from God that He’s there and He cares.

“O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” Psalm 139:1-10 (NLT)

“The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” Psalm 121:8 (NLT)

• When things are going wrong and you’re getting frustrated, show gratitude.

Think about the things that you have to be grateful for. Either list them out mentally or do what I did and write them down somewhere. Gratitude can turn a bad attitude, a bad mood, and even bad circumstances around. It also opens the door for God to come in and bless you.

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Ephesians 5:20 (ESV)

Have you had an experience of God showing up when things were going wrong? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.

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If you know anyone that could benefit from this, please pay it forward!  Email it to a friend or share this post via the sharing links below.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)