The Problems With Being Over-Prepared

I like to be organised.

 

I don't mean just a little bit organised, I mean completely, utterly, totally organised.  I like to be prepared for a range of events; I like to anticipate alternative outcomes and I like to feel that I would know how to react or respond to each of them.

 

To this end, I am often thinking about the future - I will run through things in my mind which could occur tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or even several years from now.

 

I like to be prepared.

 

But sometimes this obsession with the future leads me to forget about what's going on right here, right now.  I end up thinking so much about what might happen, that I forget to live in what is happening.  I worry too much about tomorrow that I forget to enjoy today.

 

Jesus warns against this fretting about the future in his sermon on the mount.  I love the beauty of this verse -

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

 

[Matthew 6:34 MSG]

 

The thing about tomorrow is that we have no idea what it will hold.  And I can imagine a thousand different possibilities, but I won't know if I am right until they do - or don't - happen.

 

There is no point me fretting and worrying and 'preparing', and wasting time doing all of these things, when I don't know if the things I am preparing for will actually come to pass.

 

Instead, I want to learn to give my entire attention to God right now - to live in today and to entrust tomorrow to Him.

 

 

 

 

Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

Forrest Gump once said, Life is like a box of chocolates: You never know what you're going to get.

 

I have been working my way through a box of chocolates this evening, but the thing with most chocolates these days is that you know exactly what you're going to get because they come with a small description of the contents of each chocolate.  If there's something that you don't like, you can avoid it.  Equally, if there are one or two that you are particularly fond of, you can easily make sure that you get to enjoy them before anyone else.

 

Sometimes I wish life was like a box of chocolates.  It would nice to be able to select the things that you'd like in your life and to avoid those things that you're not that keen on.

 

Unfortunately, however, we don't get to pick and choose our way through life.  Nor do we get to read all the 'ingredients' of different events and circumstances before they happen.

 

But whilst we don't know what is coming our way, God does.  And He remains the same throughout it all.  Constant, faithful, on our side.

 

"When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour."

 

[Isaiah 43:2-3 NLT]

 

Whilst we don't know what life will bring us, we do know the One who will walk with us through everything that life throws at us.

 

 

The Bigger Picture

I can't stand recipe books which don't include pictures of the finished product.

 

I am sold on the image and if I can't see what it is I am meant to be making, I am unlikely to bother cooking the recipe.  Some of my proudest moments (seriously) have included photographing my finished meal/dish in front of the recipe book propped open at the appropriate page to show just how accurately I have managed to follow the recipe and replicate the end product.

 

If I don't know what it's meant to look like, how am I meant to make it?

 

In the same way, I wrote yesterday about jigsaw pieces and it got me to thinking how irritating it is to try to complete a jigsaw puzzle when you don't actually know what the picture is you're trying to copy.

 

I don't cope very well with not knowing where life is heading - not being able to see the picture I'm aiming for.

 

If I can't see the picture, how do I know if I'm doing it right?

 

I'm beginning to see how narrow my view of life is in this way: maybe I don't need to know the plan all of the time.  Maybe I don't need to see the 'bigger picture' before I start living.  Maybe there isn't one 'right' or 'perfect' way to live it.

 

In Jeremiah, God says,

"I know what I'm doing, I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."

 

[Jeremiah 29:11 MSG]

 

Subconsciously, I have always added a few lines to this verse.  I have included the fact that not only does God have good plans for us, but that He will reveal these good plans.  I seem to imagine that I am somehow 'entitled' to know all of His plans.

 

But maybe I'm not.  Maybe I don't need to see the bigger picture, because God can.

 

 

 

The Frustrations Of Unpredictable Weather

I have found the inconsistencies and unpredictabilities of the recent weather forecasts irritating.  Where snow is concerned, I want to know if I can get excited about it or not.

 

I'm not interested in "maybe" or "possibly" so far as the weather is concerned.  I don't want a percentage of the likelihood of snow or rain or sleet.  I want the actual facts.  I want to know what to expect.

 

Guessing is no use to me.

 

It's a bit like in one of Michael McIntyre's sketches where he says how whenever you ask someone for the time, if they don't know, they will still guess.  I think it's about three.

 

He says, I didn't ask you to guess the time.  I can do that myself.

 

Similarly, I don't need a weather forecast to guess the weather.  I can do that myself.

 

I appreciate that predicting the weather isn't that straightforward or predictable, so no matter how much I want to know for definite what the weather is doing, that won't happen.

 

Still, it would be useful wouldn't it? 

 

You'd know what shoes/coat to wear.  You'd know whether to bother straightening your hair or, more importantly, not to waste time straightening it if it is soon to face the rain.

 

It would make planning for life much easier.

 

But unfortunately, it is not possible.

 

I suppose the weather forecast is an act of faith: will we believe it or not? 

 

Similarly, our walk with God is an act of faith: I don't always know what's going to happen in my life.  I am not perfectly prepared for every eventuality.  But I don't need to be when I'm trusting in God.

 

Faith isn't so much about what you can see, but about what you choose to see and about who you trust to show you.

 

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

 

[Hebrews 11:1 NLT]
 

I will never get the perfect weather forecast that tells me exactly what I want to know.  There will always be an element of faith and trust involved.  And, this side of heaven, I will never get to know for sure what God is planning on doing in my life - I will never have the perfect 'life forecast'. 

But whilst I don't know what might happen, I know the One who knows.  And that's enough for me.

 

 

 

 

 

Believing Is Seeing

I caught the second half of the film 'Loch Ness' this afternoon. 

 

I remember loving it as a child.  It follows an American scientist who is sent to Scotland to investigate the existence (or non-existence as he believes), of the Loch Ness monster.

 

At one point, as he is beginning to come round to the idea of the monster's existence, he says to one of the characters: "I want to see it so I can believe, too."  But she replies, "No.  You have to believe it to see it."

 

So often we can get caught up in the same cycle in our walks with God.

 

We want God to prove something to us before we believe it.  We want evidence before we will accept it.  We want to know that we can trust Him to provide if we give up our money.  We want to know what His plans are for our futures before we 'agree' to them.  We want to know if He'll answer our prayers before we bother praying.

 

But the Bible says,

 

"We live by faith, not by sight."

 

[2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV]

 

And in another translation, this same verse reads,

 

"It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going."

 

[2 Corinthians 5:7 MSG]

 

 

It would be wonderfully helpful to know and see everything that might develop and unfold in my future before deciding to trust in God.  It would be excellent to see the truths about Him being faithful and reliable before I decide to put my hope in Him.

 

But unfortunately, that's not the way faith works.

 

Sometimes we have to believe in order to see.

 

Sometimes believing is seeing.

 

 

 

 

 

Letting Go

I've just been watching the film 'The Wedding Date' which I haven't seen before. 

 

At the beginning of the film, the main character - Kat - is struggling to hand over an envelope (containing some flight tickets) to a messenger.  They tug the envelope back and forth between them for a couple of minutes, before Kat finally says, "I'm trying to let go, but I might need some help."

 

The messenger eventually physically removes Kat's hands from the envelope, so that she can let go.

 

Sometimes I know that I am trying to let go of things, but I need help.

 

I need someone to step in and remove my hands from the things that I'm holding on to. 

 

Sometimes I hold on to things because it is comfortable and familiar and safe, even though there is no life left in them.  But whilst I am holding on to these things and my hands are full with the past, I am unable to receive anything new.  I am unable to look to the future with excitement and anticipation.

 

Isaiah spoke about the need to let go and look to the future:

 

        "Forget about what’s happened;
        don’t keep going over old history.
        Be alert, be present.  I’m about to do something brand-new.
        It’s bursting out!  Don’t you see it?"

 

        [Isaiah 43:18 MSG]

When we fix our eyes and our hearts and our attention on the things we're holding on to, when we keep going over old history, we miss what God might be doing right now.  We miss the new things that He is bringing to life.

 

Sometimes we have to let go in order to let God release new things in our lives.