I needed a quantity of a certain type screw to get one of my jobs done. My mind was to go to a certain store to get those screws. On my way there, with my preoccupied thinking, I missed the turn that would get me to that store. My first reaction was a frustrated regret, “Drats! I missed the turn!” As the one way service road compelled me to go further on down the highway, I realized that I would be coming to another store that would offer the same thing. So, I just went ahead to that store and got the screws I needed. I later found out that the store to which I first intended to go did not have that type screw anyway. What I thought was a second choice or poor choice actually turned out to be the only good and true first choice that was available.
How true this is of our life in the Lord. So many times we have things figured out one way with our beliefs, our practices, our expectations, and with our experiences, only to find out we don’t need to be going that way anyway; there is another way that is a better way. How true the scripture is that says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:7,8). That does not mean we become a wandering mindless zombie and things just work out. There is a definite commitment to put your trust in God knowing he is wiser than all your best plans and intentions. It is a commitment to put him in the middle of all that you do, and as you do that, he will be active in guiding you in the best possible way for you and for his purpose and glory. When God works it out, we see that theology we held to was imperfect anyway. We let it go as we embrace his way. When God works it out, we see that what we were doing is of no real benefit anyway. As we embrace doing what he is guiding us to do, the activity we considered so important fades, and its pull and power over us passes away. As we see and learn of the richness of who the Father God really is, and who his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ really is, and who our Helper the Holy Spirit really is to us and for us, then other things pale in comparison. To experience God in all his dimensions toward us, is to experience love, joy, peace, and power in a world of fear, uncertainty, and threats. We are not missing a turn when we choose to put our life, our trust, in him. We are on the right path to obtain the protection, guidance, and goods we need to get the job done in this life and in the one to come.