“Go and Pray”

In a rush I was leaving the grocery store excited to get home and cook a delicious dinner. Walking out the door there’s always cars driving in front of the entrance. They’re supposed to wait for the pedestrians to walk but you never know if they will wait or go. In hesitation I paused on the sidewalk next to an elderly lady. She turned to me and said sometimes you just have to go and pray. These three little words stuck in my head, “go and pray.” Hearing prayer spoken about in a public place by a complete stranger caught me off guard but the unnatural environment got me thinking.

I began to think about how God works in mysterious ways and how He is always there. God has been very present in my life in the past couple years and I know that it is because of Him that I am where I am today.

Two years ago, I was a freshman in college, in a relationship, with a great guy or so I thought. I thought for sure we would have a wonderful future together. I thought for once in my life I had everything figured out. God had apparently had a different plan in mind. This relationship fell apart so fast and so painfully I never saw it coming. My heart was broken, I was angry with God. I didn’t understand how He could do this to me. How or why He would allow me give my heart to another individual who would hurt my heart or my trust so drastically.

Over the course of the next year I struggled to get over this guy. I met new guys but I struggled with trusting them. I didn’t know if I could ever trust another guy again. Lost and confused I turned to the one guy who I was always taught would never leave me. The one guy who would forever love me and pick me up if I stumbled. God. I prayed. I prayed and asked why. I prayed and asked for closure. I prayed about it all. Talking to Him it felt as if a warm blanket covered me so to say everything would be alright. This year I grew so much closer in my relationship with God because I knew He would never desert me. I discovered how important He is to me in my life. By this realization, the me full of sunshine began to return.

These two years, yet painful and full of struggles, lead me to trust in Him and His timing. Focusing my energy on Him I was able to see that I had a wonderful guy in my life. A friend I had met when freshman year. God had placed this gentleman in my life but I was too distracted in the wrong person to even consider him. This gentleman had always been there and now that the time was right God put him right in front of me. He makes me laugh like I had never before and makes me smile so big my cheeks hurt every time we see each other. I feel so blessed to now have this amazing guy in my life and every time he makes me smile I see the hands of God working.

It’s wonderful to see God working in this world whether it be a stranger on the street who reminds you to pray, who’s words mean more than she could ever know, or Him working on a broken heart teaching it that its ok to love again. I am so blessed and thankful that I was brought up to know and love God, and turn to Him for help when I get lost. So now I’ll leave you with these words “go and pray,” so that you may be inspired to find God in the world. Find Him in the heartaches and find Him in the joy.

“go and pray”

Ashley Hoffmann