By Sarah D. Park

I’ll admit, I haven’t lived that long, but I am just starting to see the benefit of having entered the wilderness more than once when it comes to navigating life’s hardships. When unexpected and challenging things suddenly change my life, those are the times I feel the most lost. I don’t know what to do or where to go because I’ve never faced this new situation I find myself in. The main compulsion is to move forward but in what direction? To where? 

But as I’ve entered wilderness more than once, I’m learning how to be lost. I’m learning to trust the skills and tools I’ve built over time, since the last time. I may not know where I’m going, but I know how to read the terrain and to get through it. “To praise God in all circumstances” is one of those tools that has been refined with use and wear. Though God is constant and unchanging, I’ve experienced those six words in such different ways. 

Sometimes, praise is a lifeline when I’m grasping for something solid.
Sometimes, praise feels like a hot brand upon a wound, to do something that is not easy on top of a difficult situation. 
Sometimes, I have no choice but to cling to God because the alternative would fracture me. 

I call Jesus Lord because no one else can be with me in the wilderness the way he can. And to call Jesus as Lord is such an active choice. Throughout history, most people don’t get to choose their lord. But I’m giving Jesus authority in all areas of my life — choosing to turn to him when I can so easily turn down other paths — because he knows how to walk with me. I’m grateful that he is so trustworthy. 

Sarah D. Park is a freelance writer whose work focuses on the cultivation of cross-racial dialogue with a Christian faith orientation. She is also a story producer for Inheritance Magazine and manages communications for several organizations. She currently calls the Bay Area her home but is an Angeleno through and through.