“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:6. Now that I approached 50 years of age, I can attest to you that my trust in God has been a lot more like a shield and a little less like an accident. Clearly, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9. I’m so glad.
Now that I’ve lived more years as an American than Brazilian, I came to the conclusion, after reflecting on what the Lord has given me throughout the years, that God provides to His people especially when His brethren acknowledges Him, in faith. I’ve also learned that the evil plans of men end up as perishable goods for God in His holy time in ways that can be quite humiliating for the oppressors.
For a while in Brazil. I was an isolated crew member of a competitive team riding a broken Canoe owned by a careless man after riding the best canoes as a captain in my youth. I was insisting on riding that broken canoe with no future because back then it was all that I knew— My hope? A chance. Fact: I wasted countless hours and steps without any success of landing a low paying job. I did the former for one full year, knowing many of the executives or close friends of those who led many of the companies that I was applying to work for, without a single offer. How infuriating! I even transferred my studies to the evening and added a year to graduating in order to have time to work. I was devastated and discouraged, felt betrayed and got into depression.
The former is precisely why I never went back to Brazil even for a visit and became an American citizen. Little that I knew back then that the Lord was taking me away from the land of leviathan for my own sake. The same people whom I grew up with playing golf with abandoned me largely for being middle high class not rich multimillionaire, for loving the Lord and helping the weak.
Now, that I am 49, married, raising a daughter, and with a career, I can see that the Lord had a plan for me from the beginning and that Brazil was a stepping stone to coming to live for the Lord in the United States. The Lord has made my path straight from my own distorted interpretation of reality. I’m so glad.
Happy birthday to me. Glory is to always be given to God.