Up the Sunbeam

-- Woody Allen is oft-quoted as saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Now, Woody Allen is an agnostic on his best days and an atheist on his worst, but even Christians sometimes use this quote as though it were true. How many times have we all heard testimonies of missionaries or pastors that follow an arc something like this: "I never wanted to be a missionary/pastor; that's the LAST thing I wanted to be!" They sigh wistfully . . . remembering the passion they once had . . . and say, "No, I dreamed of being a . . . chef doctor artist teacher musician professional golfer writer business owner (fill in your own)" then, steeling themselves, carrying grimly on with their story they say, "but God had other ideas, and now I am doing His work. You should be doing God's work too!" What they don't say out loud, but fairly scream from between the lines, is, "God is a dream killer!" "Don't...

-- Yesterday I had a fender bender. Thankfully, no one was hurt! It was minor as collisions go, but even the smallest accident leaves you feeling shaky and rattled. To top it all off, the lady in the other car was snotty and accusing, certain I was dolt or imbecile or both. In the back of my mind, I kept wondering, God, why didn't you prevent this? How is this good? We do NOT need this!! I apologized to my Father later for my accusing tone, and thanked Him that it wasn't more serious and for His protection. He hugged my heart and whispered, No worries love, you're only dust. We would really, really love it if God WOULD do all that He COULD do to prevent difficulties and to ensure safety, health, prosperity and happiness. When He doesn't, we are tempted to question His love or wonder if He is really powerful. This is a dilemma as old as Eden, and we probably aren't significantly closer to understanding it than Adam and Eve were. One thing I have le...