And this is how it begins …
I haven’t told anyone this before, but I’m going to tell you now …
I wish someone had told me, though I am not certain that I would have listened or believed it to be true. Maybe that is just how it is when life is experienced with both the sun and rain on our skin?
So, what I am about to tell you … it’s true … I have the bumps and bruises and emotional muscle development to prove it. Hum … that sounds rather dark and twisty. Don’t worry, the bumps and bruises can be reduced if you listen to what I am going to tell you …
but, I also know that when someone tells you something, something which requires a change within, well … people don’t often listen because experience is a much more profound teacher than advice (at least it has been for me).
So … take this under advisement …
Here it is …
there is no formula for success in life
Ok, so maybe I have hinted at this before, but this time I am focusing on this message, I am imploring you to consider how this might affect your thinking, your planning, your expectations in life.
Social media is full of should, always, never. Certainly there are things and events in our lives that these words are accurately used.
Humans should drink water everyday.
If you drop a marble from your hand, it will always fall.
You will never leave a beach without sand sticking to you.
Much of real live life, though, is lived with grey matter, with special circumstances, with choice. It is the power of choice that most often wrecks havoc with the if-then expectations in our daily living.
We humans think that if we study hard we will get a high mark in our course … but, studying is only part of the picture. Ability is the other piece that affects the outcome. We think that if we dote on our spouse, they will always love us. We think that if we raise our children a certain way, they will be successful. We think that if we eat healthy and exercise regularly we will live long and healthy. We think that if we pour into our loved ones, they will be there for us when we are elderly.
There are no guarantees of success!
There are no formulas!
Okay, I hear you thinking, but if we follow God, surrender our lives to his will, raise our children to follow him, obey his commands …
But … even as you are thinking those thoughts (thoughts that I, myself had thought in younger years) there are faces and names and situations that don’t fit this Christian formula that we have held tightly too.
Maybe we have held that formula, that ideal, more tightly than we have held onto God himself? Maybe the formula has become our god?
It is said that expectation is the root of all heartache, sorrow, evil, disappointment, suffering. If God is who we follow, then trust, not expectation, must be our guide. If I am trusting my God in the process, then I need to trust him with the timing.
Through the ‘failures’ of life’s formulas, there is one thing we can be completely confident of :
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:13-14
itsawonderfilledlife 