My Way or His Way? Trusting God Through Difficult Times
My last blog post I was blessed to share a beautiful piece by Desiree Future. Today, I’m equally blessed to share the words of another dear friend and critique partner Kathy O’Malley. Knowing about the health and other challenges my family has been facing, Kathy generously offered to share her thoughts on navigating life’s challenges, dealing with regrets and finding the strength to move forward.
As I read her post, it brought to mind one of my favorite verses
I’m working on my next post now and look forward to sharing some good news about the workshop I gave this last week along with some exciting plans for the new year.
Sometimes we may feel as though we’ll never find our way out of the valley were in. We don’t always understand why we face these challenges, but I am learning to lean on God to guide my steps. Hearing how others have walked through their own valleys, can renew our strength, and encourage us.
In the meantime, I hope Kathy’s heartfelt message touches you as much as it did me.
My Way or His Way? Trusting God Through Difficult Times
By Kathleen O’Malley Taylor
Driving home from work after an especially stressful day I felt drained and numb. How did I get to this place in my life, I wondered. Frank Sinatra was singing the song “My Way”, on the car radio.
“Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention”, he sang in that strong legendary voice. I listened and the herculean tone of some of the lyrics made me want to shrink in shame.
“Yes, there were times I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out”
Gees, I barely got through the day. My regrets, failures, lost opportunities washed over me like a Tsunami. How can anybody in this world have so few regrets to mention I shouted at the radio and changed the station.
Later that night, I did some research about the song and learned Sinatra did not like it and found it “self-serving and self-indulgent,” his daughter, Tina, told the BBC program Hardtalk in a 2000 interview. You’d never know it by hearing him sing in that strong, self-assured Sinatra voice, the music crescendoing in victory every time he sang, “I did it my way”… But I think even Frank knew, we all have more than a few regrets and dealing with our fears and challenges is not so easy.
It doesn’t help that we are constantly assailed on social media with false images of life: perfect homes, happy family photos, beautiful people. It’s as if everybody’s doing life right but us.
I have regrets, bad stumbling blocks, and at times paralyzing fear because it’s a part of life. The good news is I don’t have to do any of this journey alone. I don’t have to look like a Vogue model at 68, or live in a showcase house, thank heavens. God always leads me back to a better path no matter how far I stray in the wrong direction. He comforts me when I’m afraid and guides me when I’m lost. We know God can take our missteps, redirect us, and turn our wrong turns into the right ones.
Do you have regrets? Failures? Missed opportunities that haunt you sometimes? Of course you do. And it’s okay. It’s normal. The past cannot be rewritten. Embrace the present and know God is with you. When you get caught in the valley of what if… pray this scripture:
God instructs us, “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new.” Isaiah 43:18-19.
Kathleen O’Malley Taylor is a former journalist and has published in local and national publications. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Her most recent work is a devotional, “God’s Not Through with You Yet,” published in The Courage to Write, edited by Lucinda Secrest McDowell and Rachel Britton. Kathy lives in Massachusetts.
