I walked hurriedly into work, my short legs moving as quickly as my little feet would allow. My arms overflowed with bags of different sorts, things I absolutely needed, from nursing supplies (the kind to take care of my patients) to nursing supplies (the kind needed to collect milk for my baby). I was what you would call an overwhelmed woman.
Heavy bags slid off my shoulders, and without a free hand to hike them back up they simply dug down heavily at my elbows. As I entered my workplace a few steps behind another rushing employee the heavy door closed in their wake slamming against my frantic frame, and I realized it was a perfect representation of my life lately.
Harried, hurried, and weighted down. Struggling, striving, yet slammed flat anyway. Carrying far more than I was able, and feeling like I was a failing step behind. Always.
But I knew one thing to be true. That feeling wasn’t what God had for me. In fact, in my frustration He would whisper gently to my soul, wiping away my worries with His truth, setting my compass North with His direction of peace.
This is what He would say to the overwhelmed woman.
I knew you in your Mother’s womb, I knitted you together with great precision and care. As I formed each finger and tiny toe I not only did so with abundant love, but with tremendous purpose. And as I breathed my life into your lungs I smiled fondly and proudly for the future that was before you.
I made you for such a time as this.
Your first smiles, your joyful laughter, even your misgivings. I placed them within you, I developed them inside you, and I cultivated each and every circumstance to bring you where you are at this very moment.
I made you for such a time as this.
Every misstep, every mistake, every wrongdoing, whether done by you or done to you, I foresaw. I knew the challenges you would face, the wrong decisions you would make. I knew the tears of regret you would cry, and I knew the years you would waste chasing things other than my face. I knew, and I have used them.
I made you for such a time as this.
When you thought you couldn’t, or even when you wouldn’t, I was there. I was there in every haggard breath, in every racing thought, even in the irrational fear. My voice called out in clarity and truth, and at those times when you couldn’t hear me, I was there. Waiting. Waiting for you to acknowledge me.
I made you for such a time as this.
