Tricked By God

Have you ever had one of those times when God used circumstances to trick you into something that you might not have done if you were given the choice up front?

That happened to me last week. Here, I had gone with Jody to see a counselor at church about our oldest kids ... no major issues, just thinking they may benefit from being able to blow some steam about parents, life, etc... with an impartial outsider ... and, wanting to make sure we're striking the right balance between grace-filled and authoritarian parenting.

Well, it started off weird as the counselor looked at the waiting area and was a bit surprised because they don't usually take two people at once. Jody had heard that the counselor wanted us both there - when really what was said was that they wanted to see both of us as well (not meaning at the same time).

However, it turned out to be a God thing since our time there together revealed some mutual resentments and hurts that had been shoved under the carpet years ago and not dealt with. 

And, then another God thing ... apparently, the person in the slot right after us was finishing up their counseling THAT week, so that slot would now be available.

So... you guessed it. For the next several weeks, Jody and I will have back to back counseling sessions - first apart dealing with the muck in our own closets and then together, tuning up our communications and conflict resolution skills... a pretty cool thing to do before our 19th Anniversary which is coming up in August!

My point? If someone had suggested that I go in for counseling and that Jody and I have a little marriage counseling, I probably would have rebuffed saying that this isn't the right time with our annual Extreme Business Makeovers event coming up and that Jody and I are fine since we're not having any major issues and no one is running for the escape hatch. I guess I still could have said "no," but I've learned my lesson from other times God re-ordered my steps. Nope, God had to trick me on this one and I'm glad He did.

I think of the verse in Proverbs (16:9) where it says, "In his heart a man plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps."

How cool is that? He allows us to be the big goal setters for our lives ... what's the way we want to go? (ie... I want a lifelong and healthy marriage) But, since His ways our higher than our ways, He often changes the path that we take to get there. If we fight the circumstances that He allows to come our way that change our path, we tend to muck things up. But, when we start to see those things as coming from Him and look for how they fit in with our big goals, everything falls into place without strain and striving.

Has God ever tricked you? Are you open to it when He tries?

All the Best,

Thom

(Note: I promised more open and heartfelt postings ... hope this helps you when I share openly like this. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world to share the "behind closed doors" world with a ton of other people. But, there are plenty of places you can go for expert type articles. I'm no expert ... just a fellow "pilgrim" in business and in life!)