That was before. This is now.

A friend and I lived out worst case scenarios. When the doctor says there is a 90% chance it could be this, but a 10% chance it could be this other darker thing. Our stories often fell in that dreaded 10%.

Recently, we were chatting about how after all those years of experiencing the unexpected, we can be quick to jump to the worst-case scenario. If there’s a hint that the dreaded 10% could be a reality again, we go ahead and start preparing for it.

But the thing we have to remind ourselves of us this—that was before. This is now.

If you once had the privilege of not knowing how fragile this life is, how fragile we are, the unexpected reveals it rather quickly. But in the unknown there is another reality we can hold onto: we have a Creator who makes all things new.

From year to year, from week to week, from day to day. Just because the worst-case scenario was part of your life for a time, doesn’t mean it will be this time.

And even if the dreaded news becomes a part of your reality again, God is in the business of breathing new life into what is dead, with each changing season, after every storm, and in the promise of an empty grave. He can make new things bloom out of the darkness one more time.

But while we wait, while we sit in the unknown-

We breathe in- that was before.
And breathe out- this is now.

If this spoke to you, you will love my book, The Gift of the Unexpected- Discovering Who You Were Meant to be When Life Goes Off Plan.