Greater Things

Oh, what a year can do! It was a mere 365 days ago that I was in Cleveland, doing mission work, happy but struggling. It was then that we sang Chris Tomlin’s “God of this City,” boldly proclaiming “There is no one like our God! Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done…”

But what was to come would shake my world.

It was one year ago today that I wrote in my journal, asking God to keep me awake at night and fill me with passion for a cause. The only problem was that I was giving up the gifts He had given me for what I thought I needed.

Well, He found a way to keep me awake at night.

It was two days later that Amanda broke up with me. Many of you may not know, but we were dating pretty seriously, and the break up came as quite a shock. That day changed the course of all I had planned in my life. But God was working for Greater Things.

A few days later, I wrote in my journal that this was the hardest thing I had ever been through. But I also wrote that I knew it was, thus, the greatest opportunity for growth. And it was.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m gloating, but God has done so many amazing things since that day. There truly were greater things to come for me. He has blessed me with great friends and family; He has given me the opportunity to serve Him in a way I never thought I would a year ago; He has blessed me with an amazing girlfriend who is better than I could hope for; and, most importantly, He has given me a better understanding of His Life and His Purpose for mine.

That doesn’t mean the hurt wasn’t hard, or that it was wasn’t lasting. Even as long after the break up as January, I was still writing about it in my journal, though it was more of a side note. It was then that I said, “I really haven’t felt like myself since Amanda broke up with me, but I believe I am becoming myself.”

My life looks infinitely different than I expected it to a year ago. But one thing I have learned through all the change and pain and misdirection: there is no one like our God, and greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done. I’m excited to see how God will blow my plans out of the water in the next year.