Have you ever felt like everything was falling apart? Maybe not in a catastrophic way, but in a way that made you stop and say, What am I going to do now? Trust me, you are not alone. I’ve been there—many times. In fact, I found myself there just this past week when I accidentally deleted an entire year’s worth of work on my Outnumbered by Chaos website.
Gone. With the accidental push of a single button.
To say I was at a loss would be an understatement. Did I panic? Absolutely. Did I recover my work? No. But instead of letting the weight of that loss crush me, I chose to trust God—and that trust paid off in ways I never could have imagined.
The Beauty in Loss
When we think about loss, it’s usually negative. The death of a loved one. Losing a job, a home, or something precious. Sometimes it’s smaller things, like misplacing our keys. But what we rarely do is associate loss with something beautiful. And I know—that sounds crazy, especially when we’re talking about losing someone we love, a family home, or even our livelihood.
But in those moments of fear and grief, we must turn to the One who supplies all our needs.
Now, before you come for me, I get it. Loss is painful. It leaves us feeling empty. After losing my husband and my brother, my heart felt like it had been ripped out and thrown into a blender—over and over again. For so long, I truly believed I would never feel joy again. I even resigned myself to the idea that I just had to wait until God had enough mercy to take me home to reunite with them.
Morbid? Yeah, I know.
But here’s the thing: When we love deeply, we hold on tightly. And sometimes, when God allows something to be taken from us, our instinct is to say, How could You do that? That was mine.
Letting Go When God Says No
When I deleted my website, I was devastated. But I found a loophole—I could restore everything…for a price. Was I willing to pay? Absolutely. But just as I was about to hit restore, God told me, No. Let it go.
Come again, God?
That’s when I thought about Ruth and Naomi. Naomi had a good life. Her sons had survived childhood, gotten married, and she was probably dreaming of grandbabies. Then—tragedy. Everything fell apart. Ruth’s dreams of motherhood and a happy life with her husband were shattered.
We know how the story ends. Ruth chose to trust God. She could have gone back to her homeland, but instead, she said: Where you go, I’ll go. Where you stay, I’ll stay. Your God will be my God. (Ruth 1:16)
And because of that trust, she was not only restored with a loving husband, but she became the great-grandmother of King David—and an ancestor of Jesus Christ Himself.
Can you imagine what she would have missed if she had chosen to cling to what was lost instead of trusting what God had in store?
Rebuilding Better Than Before
So, I let go. And let me tell you, it was hard. It was a lot of work. I spent over 36 hours rewriting my website, fixing broken links, and rebuilding what had been lost. But you know what? My website now is everything I wanted from the beginning.
It’s more beautiful. It’s more cohesive. It works better.
Others have said, Oh no, I’m so sorry that happened! Your website was so beautiful. And you know what? It was. But God had a bigger and better plan—because that’s who He is.
The Ultimate Restoration
Now, I can’t say that my husband or my brother have been restored to me in this life. But I do believe in the ultimate restoration—the one that will happen when Jesus returns. When sickness, death, and addiction are no more. When we are reunited with our loved ones forever.
What better restoration could there be than that?
Trusting God’s Greater Plan
Life on this earth can feel long when we’re waiting for something as beautiful and endless as eternity. But we’re here for a reason. We are called to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). We are called to bring others into the presence of the ultimate Restorer and Life-Giver.
Can you imagine an empty heaven?
Me neither. And that’s why we must keep going. We must trust that God will restore what has been lost. And when He does, it will be greater than anything we could have ever imagined.
So, whatever you’re holding onto today—whatever loss is weighing you down—take a deep breath and ask yourself, Do I still not trust Him? Because if He did it for Ruth, and He did it for me, I promise—He will do it for you too.
Trust the God of restoration. He always builds back better.
