A Line in the Sand

Quite often, I try to steer God into doing the right thing, especially when it comes to MY life.  I'm living it, after all. I should know what is best.  Sometimes life seems completely wrong.  A job I wanted doesn't materialize.  The woman I wanted to marry says "no."  The friend I thought I'd have for life disappears.  Why does this happen?  What have I done to deserve this?  I've had many one-sided "heated" debates with the Divine.  When doing so, I don't get much response.  It seems God just listens and thinks:  "He'll understand it bye and bye."

Joseph must have thought the same thing.  He wanted to marry Mary, but she was "found pregnant" by someone else.  Betrayed by the one he loved most. Not good.  After wrestling with the decision, he decided he had to divorce her for both of them to save face.  Life was the pits.

Its easy to recite the verse in Romans that says "All things work for good for those who love God."  But often it definitely doesn't seem to be that way, and we get angry, flustered and just plain confused.  It hurts,  It's no fun. We'd rather not go there.

A friend recently sent me a cartoon based on the famous "footsteps" prayer.  In the first frame, a woman looks back on the sand beach, and Jesus says:  "I've been with you all the time, but there is only one set of tracks, because I've been carrying you."  In the second frame, he says, "And that long line in the sand next to the tracks, that's where I've been dragging you."

Sometimes God has to drag us kicking and screaming into the future, until, bye and bye, we figure out everything's going to be okay.  Even when betrayed by those closest to us.