So many times we ask God for wisdom concerning. . .
We want to earnestly to do the right thing, the profitable thing, the good thing.
So what if God answered every question? What if he gave us specific direction on everything?
What if life never went sideways?
God, should I take this job? Lord, should I buy my son a car? If so, which car should I buy? Father, should I take a few days off work? God, should I talk to Mary about. . .?
What if every time we asked, God gave us detailed, specific answers and direction?
I don’t know that this would be so great. Would it really be faith? I mean, we would need to trust him to carry out the details but there would be no more wrestling with life, growing in our understanding of the misdirection of life.
It would be easier, but we wouldn’t really get a feel for life as God wants us to experience. We can’t forget that we are sojourners. There really is more and much of our struggling and groaning brings the work of God into our lives.
And I think maybe I am learning that God is much more patient with us than we realize as he has a much bigger picture in view than we do.
Doing the right thing in a particular instant is good; becoming a merciful and powerful child of God is better.
God’s mercy and grace, love and sovereignty all weave through our decisions in life.
And I honestly wonder if God is telling me to appreciate the journey more than I am, to give myself a break when I don’t make every exact right decision.
To give myself the leeway that he does. God calls it mercy, grace and love.
Definitions for “leeway”:
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
www.deepcreekyachtclub.com/WebPage/nauticalglos.html
“What if life never went sideways?”
Wow, what a timely message.
My job is relocating to Indy (the company is closing their Terre Haute office). As my wife and I have prayed about this, we know what we want (which is to stay here). But we do not yet know what God has in store for us.
I am waiting on a response from a pair of job interviews I had at another company in town; if I am offered a job, I will likely take it. If I’m not offered a job, then it seems pretty clear to me that we will be moving.
And this leads me to your comment about how you “wonder if God is telling you to appreciate the journey more than you are”.
We have been through some trials in the last several years which have, at times, led us to say “You know what? Forget it. I want to get out of here, I want to get away from this place. It’s not worth the trouble and pain.” And then, when we found out that we may be forced to move, we started to realize how much we really do want to stay.
You said “Gods mercy and grace, love and sovereignty all weave through our decisions in life.” And this is so true. We decided to face some of our trials head-on over the past couple years, and God taught us some things that we really needed to know – thing that we would not have learned had we not *chosen* to face our trials. It’s the journey that makes the person, and the good and the bad in the journey all work together for the good of the believer, right? I think that’s what Romans 8:28 says. 🙂
So now, as you said, “We want to earnestly to do the right thing, the profitable thing, the good thing.”
We find ourselves valuing stability and family consistency and existing relationships over perhaps having a better house in a better job market. We believe we are wanting the right thing by fighting to stay right where we are, because some things are more important than money. We believe (for a number of reasons that I’d love to talk through with you sometime) that to stay would be better for us spiritually as well.
But still, we have that “second-guessing nature”… “Are we absolutely sure?” Well, no. We’re not. My wife and I joke about how we want the “one Post-It note a year from God” with the explicit answer to a question (which makes it especially humorous when you get two conflicting fortunes in the fortune cookies with the Chinese food… 🙂 But, all things considered, we think this is the right thing to shoot for…
If I get that other job offer. 🙂 I’m supposed to find out any day.
In any case: Boy, what a ride. God is everywhere along the way, and this situation has brought us closer to Him.
Mike,
And how do you spell “gut-wrenching”? So many difficult decisions, and, yet, we are not walking a tight rope. I think I must learn that with the things going on in my life over the last several years, agonizing, emotional turns in the road with people I love very much. I want to make the “best” decision, but I don’t fall off the cliff if I don’t. We do our best and we really do have to trust God, and I keep learning more and more of his mercy, love, grace and sovereignty. Thank you Almighty God for your patience and plan in working your things in our lives. Amen!