If God Had a Whiteboard

 

I've often said that I would love to have a whiteboard fall from the sky every morning and have directions from the Lord written plain and clear. How easy would life be, if this were the case?

No more guessing which direction to go. No more trying to discern whether to do this or that. No more costly mistakes that leave you having to backtrack or fix what you messed up.

But then I realized that a whiteboard full of instructions wouldn't facilitate relationship; it would merely command obedience. 

Anyone can make a task list for you to follow. But not just anyone can draw you close and whisper to your heart, in a still small voice. Only God can do that. 

Distinguishing God's voice from your own (or from a cold-hearted list) takes drawing near to God. We have to know his character, know his word, know his track record and know his love for us, above all else. 

We have to lean in close, so we can hear him above all the other voices (even our own) and determine if the direction we need to go, is aligned with what we know of him. 

But even then, we sometimes make mistakes and we're left wondering what happened. We pray and seek and yet, even then, we can make decisions that turn out to be disasters or at the very least, great inconveniences. 

This happened in our lives, several years back. Circumstances came together and we made a decision to move to another city. All along the way, we were praying and giving the Lord every opportunity to change our path and put up roadblocks. But he didn't. 

We chose a house and prayed that if this wasn't THE house he had for us, that he would stop the buying process and point us in another direction. But he didn't.

Everything moved forward. The seller even chose us out of several other applicants. We kept praying and the doors kept opening.

Before we knew it, we were moving in and one year later, we were moving out. It was miserable. We were miserable. I couldn't understand why the Lord would allow us to make such a huge mistake. So we packed up and bought a more reasonable house and in two more years, realized it wasn't right either.

We seemed to be caught up in a season of moving and we felt lost and confused over what to do. 

Finally, the dreaded Covid hit and we were faced with some work circumstances that seemed like they were pointing us in the direction of renting this little cottage we're in now. Currently we've been here 3 years and still look back and marvel at how God orchestrated this move and how clearly we feel he spoke to us about this house.

But what happened with the first two moves?

Did we misinterpret God's answers or did he take us on an adventure, to get us to where we are now?

I still go back and forth on why we had to waste so much time and money, especially if this is where he wanted us to end up! I have often felt shame over all the moves and seemingly missed interpretations of what I thought the Lord was leading us to do.

But the farther we get from those past circumstances, the more I realize that we have benefited from the growth that took place because of them. 

We have learned what things look like, when circumstances truly are orchestrated by God, verses when they aren't. 

We have learned to wait on him. 

We have learned that his version of what we need is far different than our version. 

And we've also looked back and realized that we wouldn't be here, had we not taken the risk to get here.

Yes, we hit some big bumps by taking the risk. We lost money and time and our pride, at times. We even lost faith on some days, because it was all so confusing. 

But, here and now, I know without a doubt, that everything we went through was a learning process. And we're still learning. 

If I had it to do over, would I rather God just drop down a whiteboard and draw me a map to this place we're in now? Probably. 

But would I be wiser for it? I don't believe so. 

Not taking the risk and facing the difficulties would have kept me safer, but I would have missed the education and ultimately, the knowing the difference between God's leadership and my own. I think we would have also missed watching God work on our behalf, when our decisions got off track.

Sometimes life is risky. Sometimes there is no map and you're really just feeling your way down the road, with a blindfold on. 

But God is bigger than your mistakes! And his whisper is so much sweeter than an arbitrary list on a white board (although I love a good list!). 

So lean in real close today and listen for his voice. Do your best to discern his instructions and when you can't hear him just yet...wait until he tells you to go. 

It's going to be risky, for sure! But the risk will be worth all the growth, I promise. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings!