{"id":21827,"date":"2024-02-19T13:15:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T23:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=21827"},"modified":"2024-02-19T13:15:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T23:15:13","slug":"unexpected-turns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2024\/02\/19\/unexpected-turns\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Turns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-attachment-id=\"21828\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2024\/02\/19\/unexpected-turns\/bible-reflections-1-photo\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=1193%2C808\" data-orig-size=\"1193,808\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Bible Reflections 1 Photo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=300%2C203\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=640%2C434\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=389%2C264\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21828\" width=\"389\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=1024%2C694 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=300%2C203 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=768%2C520 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?w=1193 1193w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>by Bermie Dizon<\/em><strong><br><br><\/strong>Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. It is like when you&#8217;re playing a game and suddenly the rules change. It happens to all of us.<br><br>How many times have you heard yourself saying, \u201cThis is not what I expected!\u201d \u201cThis is not the life I was hoping for.\u201d<br><br>Well, you are not alone.<br><br>The Bible has tons of stories about people whose lives took a sudden twist because of what they believed God was telling them to do.<br><br>Imagine Noah building a giant boat, or Abraham moving to a completely strange new place, or Joseph going from being a free guy to a slave. And there are more, like Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Mary, and the apostles.<br><br>You&#8217;re left thinking, &#8220;Wait, what&#8217;s happening here? This doesn&#8217;t make sense!&#8221; We reach a point where we must admit, &#8220;I can&#8217;t handle this on my own. It&#8217;s too much for me.&#8221;<br><br>A lot of times, I read stuff from the Bible that talks about promises God made.<br><br>But even though I know those promises, I still struggle.<br><br>Why? Because what I see with my own eyes doesn&#8217;t match up with what God promised.<br><br>Life throws situations at us that make us question everything. But you know what? The stories in the Bible give us a big clue\u2014God knows how to handle it.<br><br>All those stories about people going through tough times in the Bible and the ones I&#8217;ve heard from church friends over the years shout one thing: God knows how to deal with our mess.<br><br>Even when everything seems impossible, Jesus said, &#8220;Hey, with people, it&#8217;s impossible. But with God, anything is possible.&#8221;<br><br>He knows how to make things happen when we&#8217;re clueless.<br><br>He knows how to do miracles, like turning a bad situation into something amazing.<br><br>He&#8217;s done it for lots of people in history, celebrity heroes and also regular folks like us in the Bible.<br><br>So, no matter how stuck or confused you feel, remember this: God knows how. He knows how to bring victory when you can&#8217;t see it, how to provide, comfort, restore, and bless.<br><br>Even when you can&#8217;t see a way out, God knows how to make one. That\u2019s our God. He&#8217;s got your back.<strong><br><br>BERMIE\u00a0DIZON<\/strong>\u00a0<em>is a retired pastor of Grace Communication International at Glendora, California and a former writer\u00a0for USA Tribune for 9 years.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Bermie Dizon Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. It is like when you&#8217;re playing a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[47,26],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=1193%2C808",1193,808,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=300%2C203",300,203,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=640%2C433",640,433,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=640%2C434",640,434,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=1193%2C808",1193,808,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=1193%2C808",1193,808,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=1193%2C800",1193,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=870%2C570",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=600%2C808",600,808,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=1115%2C715",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=579%2C500",579,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=1024%2C694",1024,694,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=540%2C285",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?resize=375%2C250",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/category\/_columns\/bible-reflections\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Bible Reflections<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/category\/_columns\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Columns<\/a>","tag_info":"Columns","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bible-Reflections-1-Photo.jpeg?fit=1193%2C808","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21827"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21829,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21827\/revisions\/21829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}