Role Reversal

If you are a married woman, you probably made lots of assumptions about your husband from the day you married; such as, he would be alongside you through thick and thin, taking care of you and your children. Besides maintaining the house, yard, and cars, he would be your helpmate and would be there for you physically and emotionally. Maybe you assumed your spouse would be the main breadwinner so you could stay home with the children. Regardless of your original plans, you counted on him to be your support system and available to help you through life 24/7. You never planned on becoming the sole financial breadwinner, the full-time parent, or bearing the burden of home responsibilities all on your shoulders alone. But now (and maybe through no fault of your own), your mate is out of the picture.

Or maybe it is your child who has veered from the path that you assumed he would walk, and has become entangled with people who make poor choices. Ever since he came into this world you may have had a vision that one day he would be there for you, in your time of need, to help you with life as you aged. However, due to his bad decisions, not only do you continue to have to be there for him, you may even have to care for his children in the process. This certainly isn’t how you envisioned your golden years.

When Jesus was talking with his disciples about His kingdom that was to come (Mark 10: 35-45), the disciples assumed Jesus meant that He was about to take control of an earthly throne, the throne of David. And they probably speculated, too, that this new kingdom would be complete with a palace and an army and lots of important positions. James and John even asked to be His left and right hand men. Their vision of the future included Jesus becoming something that He never did become. They saw Jesus fulfilling a role that He never intended to fill.

Oftentimes our loved ones’ lives do not match up to our vision of what we had for them. Dreams are dashed, hopes are crushed, and our loved one makes a terrible choice that affects our life forever. And on top of everything else, we may end up having to be both mother and father (or parent and grandparent), to the innocent children involved.

Life is unpredictable and oftentimes not fair, but with God’s help we can perform a role that was not of our choosing. No matter what our situation, God’s will for us right now is to be satisfied in Him and to trust His plan for us at this time in our life. We need to learn to let God be our helpmate through this journey; and to believe that He will take care of us into our future. After all, He sees tomorrow; we can’t.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

In His Service,
Connie