One of the neat features of Facebook that turns up in my timeline every day is the flashback from the same day in past years. Last week, an 11 year old picture popped up. It was my wife in a borrowed coat, holding our 1 year old daughter, in a corral. It was early March, much colder than we expected, and we were at the Bitz’s home. The picture was taken when we came to Big Sandy to interview for the pastor job. My wife and I had looked at a handful of churches, but we fell in love with the people at Big Sandy Church of God. We also loved the town. Most of all, we prayed and talked. In the end, we both agreed that we thought it was what God wanted us to do. I look back at the years we’ve spent here, and God has blessed us over and over. Not everything has been roses and sunshine. But it is obvious that God has blessed us repeatedly since we came.
Reflecting on that photo and the years we’ve been here, helped me realize again that the best place to be in life is wherever God’s plan takes you. Years ago, I read “Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence” by Jean Baptiste. I learned a powerful lesson from him that I apply over and over in life. He argued that if God is all powerful, is good, and has a plan for your life that involves your good, then even bad circumstances can be looked at with some degree of reassurance. This isn’t to say that everything is fun or going to be wonderful. Rather, it is to say that God is good and in control. The trick is to trust Him, follow His will, and let Him work through circumstances to make you into what He desires you to be.
There are all kinds of difficulties involved in reaching a place where you trust God and learn to grow closer to Him through good and bad times. Much of that involves getting to know Him and spending time with people who have wisdom developed through an ongoing relationship with Him. The harder part of the whole thing is looking for His will and doing it.
I started by talking about our move to Montana, because it involves taking a risk where the outcome wasn’t obvious. I often joke that the most common way pastors know they’re called to a church is if it’s bigger and pays more than their current job. In reality, God’s will and direction sometimes involves making less money, serving in less high profile settings, or doing hard things. In the past, I’ve spoken with men who believed God wanted them to cheat on their spouse. They justified it by arguing something to the effect of “God wants them to be happy and this made them happy.” Of course, adultery is a sin, and God won’t bless sin. Still, they thought it was God’s will. In reality, it was their own will that they pretended was from above. This is obviously an extreme example, but it is easy look for what we want and assume God agrees.
Prayer, knowing Him and His word, and sound advice from other believers are generally the best approach for figuring out God’s direction. These are much harder and often lead to answers that are less fun than what we prefer. However, the blessing we receive in the long run by walking where He sends us far outweighs any cost to us in terms of temporary pleasure or wish fulfillment.
