Sometimes we have pre-conceived ideas about how God should help and what God should do. A pre-conceived idea, according to the dictionary, is an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence. We think we know what’s best for us. Often people do not want to change, but they want the problem/s to go away.
I am reminded about a time when the Doctor told me my cholesterol was a bit high. I asked him how we could correct this and he told me something I didn’t really want to hear. He told me that I needed to change. I needed to change my lifestyle and start eating healthy. I also needed to change my lifestyle and do more exercise. Now I have never been very partial to exercise, unless it involved watching it, and preferably from the couch! I also have always loved the wrong food. If I have a choice between a fresh jam doughnut or fresh fruit and vegetables, the choice is easy – THE DOUGHNUT! So I wanted the quick-fix, a pill that will take the problem away without me having to change.
I also remember a story of a father and son that arrived at our church and advised me that they had walked from another town, several hundred kilometers away, and had now settled in our city. They asked for food as they said they had none and hadn’t eaten for days. I got them seated in our reception area and served them coffee and I quickly went to the grocery store and purchased two boxes of provision. Then I called them back into the office and happily advised them that we would be able to help and presented them with the two boxes. The father did not seem very delighted and he stood up and looked at the boxes and then at me, saying: ‘Do you expect me to carry that?’ That was when I realized that they had a preconceived hope that I would give them money and in fact did not really want food.
Even if things don’t work out according to our thinking, He remains able to turn things out for our good.
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