Failing to Follow Instructions

What would you think if you entrusted your home to the care of someone
while you were away, only to return and find it looking like this?

Imagine you’re going away for a couple of weeks and have found a family recommended to house-sit while you’re gone. Being very particular about how things are done, you compile a notebook with guidelines about what to do in your absence.

You provide instructions about bringing in the morning paper; what day the trash is collected; how often to water the plants, feed the fish and walk the dog; where you store the vacuum cleaner; how to shut off your quirky kitchen faucet so it doesn’t leak continually, and other details.

On the day of your departure, the family arrives and you start going over the notes with them page by page. Then the husband, Jason, says, “Hey, don’t worry. We’ve got this. I’m sure your notes tell us everything we need to know. Just relax and enjoy your cruise. Have a great time. We’ll see you when you get back.”

Confident of leaving your home in good hands, you embark on the trip, which exceeds your expectations. Two weeks later, filled with happy memories, you return home and find…the biggest mess you’ve ever seen.

Newspapers, still in protective plastic wrappers, lie strewn across your front yard, yellowing under the sun’s relentless glare. The garbage can remains standing by your back door, but now it’s overflowing with the accumulation of two weeks’ trash.

Warily you enter the house and the first thing you see is fish, floating upside-down, all dead. Then you notice the smell – deposits left by your dog because the house sitters had failed to take her out more than once a day. The plants are all wilted beyond recovery, and the kitchen faucet isn’t just leaking – there’s a steady stream of water into the sink that, because the stopper wasn’t removed, now overflows onto your hardwood floor.

Aghast at the scene, you want to scream, “What the…!” just as your guests enter the room. “Welcome back! Did you have a nice time?” they ask with broad smiles, oblivious to the chaos surrounding them.

“We did – until we got home!” is all you can manage, flustered beyond words. You gather yourself and then ask, “Didn’t you read the notebook? We told you exactly what you needed to do, and you assured us it would tell you everything you needed to know. What happened?”

“Yes, the notebook did tell us everything we need to know,” replies the wife, Ashley. “We read it every night. In fact, you did such a good job – very well written, by the way – we even studied it several mornings as well. You were extremely thorough. You thought of everything. We even told our friends about it!”

How would you respond to that? Besides trying to avoid assault and battery charges?

As strange as that scenario seems, it’s being replicated every day in homes across America and around the world. The best-selling book in the world, the Bible, is read by millions of people daily but, like the away-from-home notebook described above, it’s often either ignored, or used only for information, not for application.

The Scriptures clearly were not intended merely for storing in our intellectual filing cabinets. In Psalm 119:9,11 King David declared, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” From the Middle Eastern mindset, in which this was written, to believe also requires to act accordingly. There wasn’t room for the believe-but-don’t-do kind of attitude that characterizes much of Western thinking.

And in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the apostle Paul insisted the teachings of the Bible are more than a compilation of suggestions, or even recommendations: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Are we like the couple that received instructions on how to be proper caretakers of the home where they were staying, appreciating what is read but failing to act upon it? Or are we following the directive of James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says”?

A Problem of Prepositions

The ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation are up in arms. People are making bold references to religion and faith – in public, no less. What’s a nation to do?

Here are just a few recent examples of these heinous, unconscionable acts: A pastor uses the word “God” six times, and quotes one Bible verse, in a seven-minute talk at a public school. Students pray over the PA system just before kickoff at football games. At some local government meetings, officials open with a brief prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, including the phrase “under God.” And a congregation decides to erect huge metal crosses on church property within easy view from the interstate highway.

Doesn’t the Constitution clearly call for a separation of church and state? What’s religion – or faith, or spirituality for that matter – got to do with real life? And how dare people who embrace such beliefs rub it in the noses of those who don’t?

Well, I think I’ve figured it out. It’s simple, really – it’s a problem of prepositions.

In case English wasn’t your strong subject in school, a preposition is a word that links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. Prepositions include words such as “about,” “across,” “after,” “by,” “except,” “into,” “on” and “to.”

They also include “of” and “from.” And therein lies this dilemma we face with this compelling issue surrounding church and state.

The First Amendment of the Constitution's Bill of
Rights says government cannot restrict free
exercise or expression of religious faith.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech….” (I highlighted the preposition “of” in bold italics on purpose.) Nowhere does the Constitution make any provision for freedom from religion, although people certainly have the right – as many have exercised – not to believe.

Referred to as “the establishment clause” after its adoption, the amendment prohibits Federal or state governments from establishing an official church, along the lines of the Church of England, which early American immigrants had fled. But “establishment of religion” and freedom from religion are two very different and distinct things. Frankly, it’s a grammatical issue that Mrs. McGillicudy and her freshman English class at Anywhere High School could easily resolve.

Clearly in our age of “tolerance” and “enlightenment,” there are those who argue against any references to matters of faith and religion in the public square. But everyday we all are subjected to a “faith” and religion of a different sort – the worship of knowledge and the human intellect, the notion that the only things that matter are those that can be seen, felt and measured.

Faith, of course, doesn’t meet that criteria. After all, Hebrews 11:1 explains, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

But we’ve gone too far – and we did it too long ago. For many people, studies indicate the vast majority of people, spiritual beliefs are an important and influential dimension of their lives. Countless followers of Jesus, for example, would affirm the apostle Paul’s words in Acts 17:28: “For in him we live and move and have our being.” We could no more exclude Christ from every facet of our lives than we could do without oxygen.

Granted, many people believe differently. Muslims pray to Allah, and the most devout do that numerous times every day. Hindus, Buddhists and others pursue their beliefs in their own ways. And I wholeheartedly support their right to do so.

But we don’t need freedom from any of those. If an imam chose to offer a Muslim prayer at a public gathering; if a rabbi that doesn’t believe Jesus is the Messiah prayed to the God of Abraham; or other spiritual leaders gave prayers or offered thoughts on their respective beliefs, we should respectfully listen – and choose to disagree if we wish. There's no need to argue or become antagonistic.

Why can’t we return to the long-lost realm of common sense and realize – or rediscover – that our revered Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but not freedom from religion? If anything, it assures freedom from the establishment of non-religion.

Headed for the Hall?

Visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn.
is probably the closest I'll ever get to being in a hall of fame.

How would you feel if one day you were nominated for a prestigious hall of fame? You pick – which one would it be? Just imagine being selected to the hall of your choice.

Annually, stellar athletes are selected for their respective halls of fame: college and pro football, baseball, basketball, hockey, even NASCAR. In the entertainment world there’s the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and others. There’s even a National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Plaques of Country Music Hall of Fame members
are displayed in a room featuring the words of the
classic gospel song, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."

Many colleges have created halls of fame to honor distinguished athletes, students and alumni, and some high schools do the same. I was a hall monitor once at my elementary school – does that count? I’m guessing somewhere there’s a grocery clerks’ hall of fame. “There was never anyone that could stock shelves or sack groceries like ole Jimmy!”

Think about being accomplished enough, famous enough in some area of expertise, to be inducted in a hall of fame of some sort. Is music your passion? Wouldn’t it be cool being named for playing an instrument of choice? Or perhaps you’re an educator – what if you were selected to a national teachers’ hall of fame?

Most of us, of course, will never receive hall of fame recognition signifying we’re among the “who’s who” of a certain profession or endeavor. Long ago I realized how could I possibly dream of getting into a “Who’s Who” when I’m so firmly entrenched in “who’s he?” But there is one “hall of fame” that’s open to all of us.

In the Bible, Hebrews 11 presents an interesting roster of men and women singled out for God’s hall of fame. Some people prefer the term, “hall of faith.” There are the biblical superstars, like Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (later renamed Israel), Moses, Samson and David. But there are other less-celebrated “inductees,” like Abel, Enoch – “taken from this life, so that he did not experience death” (Hebrews 11:5) – Jephthah, Barak (not Obama), Samuel and other prophets.

One of the surprise entries is the lone woman cited by name, Rahab, a prostitute! She trustingly assisted the Israelite spies as they inspected the doomed city of Jericho. If Rahab could make this “hall,” there’s hope for the rest of us.

Many others are referred to, although not listed by name. What it does tell about them is a unified tale of unwavering faith. “”Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put into prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword…the world was not worthy of them” (Hebrews 11:35-38). That’s not a job description I’d be excited about!

 But the passage also makes clear they weren’t singled out for their heroics, but for one common quality: “These were all commended for their faith” (Hebrews 11:39).

Whether confronted with violent persecution for being followers of Christ, as is the case in some parts of the world, including the Middle East, Africa and China, or simply striving to pursue the life Jesus calls us to on an everyday basis, we’re all candidates for God’s hall of fame.

As Jesus promised, the “induction ceremony” will include the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21-23). That will definitely be one ceremony worth attending.

Mountaintops . . . and Valleys

Mountaintops are thrilling, but real life is found in the valleys.

Have you ever had a “mountaintop experience,” an overwhelming, mind-consuming event that inspired, challenged or motivated you in ways you’d never imagined? Maybe it was in a college classroom, a business workshop, or a spiritual conference? Some truth you heard or strategy you gained that left you fired-up, believing life as you’d known it would never be the same?

Mountaintops – and the valleys lying below them: curious things.

Significant parts of my life have been spent in close proximity to mountains. In Germany, where I was born – my dad was in the U.S. Army, my mom had gone to be with him, and I wanted to be close to her at the time – my parents enjoyed the Wetterstein mountain range, featuring Zugspitze, the country’s highest peak, near the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

There were no mountains in New Jersey where I grew up, or Ohio where I started my journalistic career. But in moving to Chattanooga, Tenn. we found ourselves living atop a hill and near Signal and Lookout mountains, as well as within easy driving distance to the Smoky Mountains and picturesque Asheville, N.C. My travels often took me to Colorado Springs and Denver, Colo., where the towering Rocky Mountains painted breath-taking vistas.

My greatest mountaintop experiences, however, weren’t all on real mountains. I attended conferences in various settings where I heard outstanding Bible teachers. Their depth of knowledge and practical understanding of how to relate biblical truth to everyday living helped me to grasp being a “Christian” should be 24/7, not limited to religious gatherings.

Traveling around the country to interview committed, mature followers of Jesus for magazine articles, it often seemed I was flying higher than the jet transporting me as I returned home. When Isaiah 40:31 speaks of “mounting up with wings like eagles,” that’s how I felt.

Time after time I’d attend an event, or meet inspiring people, that made me feel I could tackle the world. “You and me, God, we’re a team!”

Then, however, it would be time to leave the mountaintop – literal or figurative – and descend back into the valley. It’s interesting how the realities of everyday life – bills, home repairs, work deadlines, family issues – can spoil a good mood forged on a remote “mountaintop.” The “I can conquer anything” thrill soon fades while visiting the dentist or calling to get the car fixed.

That’s why I appreciate what Oswald Chambers said in his classic devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest:

“After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God…. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity…God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with him.”

For the most part, all of life’s like that. The wedding is exciting, but then comes the marriage. Giving birth is thrilling, but then comes raising the child. Landing the big contract is exhilarating, but then comes serving the customer.

Maybe that’s why many people find the words of the so-called “shepherd’s psalm” so reassuring: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you (God) are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). This passage isn’t talking so much about physical death as it is the problems and struggles – even terrors – of everyday life. We can’t live forever on the mountaintop; we must descend into the demon-infested, trouble-filled valley. And it’s comforting to know we’re not alone, that God is there beside us, offering direction, provision and protection.

So enjoy the moments on the mountaintop and listen carefully to what God wants to teach you there. He’ll want you to put it into use when you’re back in the valley.

In GPS We Trust?

Being among the legion of people fitting the description of “directionally challenged” – we pretty much couldn’t find our way out of a large paper bag – I regard the Global Positioning System (GPS) as one of mankind’s greatest inventions.

How it works, I don’t know. When I’m using my GPS, does President Obama get regular updates on where I am? Is the NSA diligently monitoring my progress? Can the satellite tracking my vehicle tell if I’m eating French fries, or if I’m trying to find the local ESPN affiliate on the radio?

But who cares? It’s just a marvel to me that whether it’s the GPS built into your vehicle, a portable device, or even the navigation app on your smart phone, you tell it where you want to go and it provides a map (plus voice – I think her name is “Gertrude”) to guide you along your way.

Never fails. Right?

A GPS can guide you to wherever you
want to go. Which GPS do you use?

On a recent business trip I used the Google Maps app on my phone rather than reacquainting myself with our Garmin, and for the most part it worked great. Except for once. I was driving along the route “Gertie” had instructed when suddenly she announced, “Make a U-turn in 1,000 feet.” No warning. She hadn’t indicated a turn earlier that I had missed. She just wanted me to make a U-turn – and right now. Impulsive, if you ask me.

I thought, “This doesn’t make sense. I’m on the state highway I’m supposed to be on.” I knew because of MapQuest, printed directions I always bring as a stop-gap, in case the GPS gets confused. As had just happened, apparently.

But to be sure – I hate driving miles and miles out of my way, only to waste time backtracking – I did turn at the next light, swung around and headed back toward the intersection. Then Gertie advised me to turn left – back onto the highway, in the same direction I’d been traveling.

Good ole “Trust Me I Never Make a Mistake Gertie” had…made a mistake! Who knew? The next day I drove the same route, and Gertie made the same error. She’s sometimes wrong, it seems, but never in doubt.

This got me thinking about the other GPS I’ve used countless times, the one that truly never fails – God’s Positioning System. (I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth mentioning again.) Early in my journey as a follower of Jesus, I learned this passage: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

My personal life – and often my professional life – have confirmed the truth of these verses. Reviewing the course of my journalistic career is one example. At the outset of my career, as a wet-behind-the-ears editor of a community newspaper in suburban Columbus, Ohio, if someone had explained where my vocational path would lead, I’d have responded emphatically, “I can’t get there from here!” And I would have been right. Because to get to where I am now, I’ve had to go to many other places first.

From New Jersey (where I grew up) to Houston, Texas (where I began college) to Ohio (where I finished college and started my first newspaper job) to suburban Philadelphia, back to Ohio, then to suburban Houston, and finally here to Chattanooga, Tenn. Even after arriving in Chattanooga, God has taken my family and me in directions we couldn’t have anticipated.

But unlike with Gertie and my Google Maps app, God’s directions have never failed. That’s not to say there haven’t been times – many times – when I wondered, “Lord, do You know what You’re doing?” In retrospect I’ve learned His answer has always been, “Yes, I do. Why do you ask?”

Proverbs 3:5-6 has a few caveats, however. We have to trust in the Lord – and not in ourselves. If we try to lean on our own understanding instead, we’ll find ourselves more confused than Gertie the Google Maps lady.

And hardest of all is acknowledging God in all our ways. We like to hold the Lord in reserve, kind of like a spare tire. “If I need you, I’ll let You know.” Many times we’re willing to acknowledge anything but God. But if – and when – we do submit to Him, recognizing He’s got a much better idea of what we need and where we need to go, He will indeed make our paths straight.

Even if those “straight paths” result in crisscrossing the map.

Global Positioning System? Accurate much of the time. God’s Positioning System? Accurate all of the time. I highly recommend it!

Joy of a Job Well Done

It's amazing to consider the diversity in the talents, abilities
and gifts we all possess personally and professionally.

One of the realities of homeownership is, to borrow the profound words of the late comedienne Gilda Radner’s character, Roseanne Roseannadanna, “it’s always something!”

In recent years we’ve had our kitchen and bathrooms remodeled, roof replaced, new windows and siding installed, and recently needed to have a new concrete driveway poured. Since I have a mechanical IQ of about minus-2, all I can do is watch with amazement as craftsmen do their thing, performing work I wouldn’t begin to attempt.

I also look on with appreciation for the diverse gifts and talents these carpenters, plumbers, roofers, concrete workers and contractors possess, so different from mine own. When it comes to working with my hands, the only tasks I can do with any success are with fingers applied to a computer keyboard.

A prevailing notion views work as “a necessary evil,” but work done well can be a source of much joy and satisfaction. Serving customers at a restaurant, building a house, teaching a class, writing an article, landscaping a yard, directing a meeting, performing a concert, selling a car, baking a casserole, or doing countless other jobs, there’s something noble about a job well-done.

All work is noble and honorable in God's sight
if it's performed with diligence and excellence.

The organs in a human body perform different but equally critical roles for maintaining good health. In a similar way, we’re all blessed with diverse interests, strengths and abilities all needed in a strong, thriving society. I’m thankful for the person that delivers our morning newspaper (yes, we still receive one of those), the mail carrier, cashiers and clerks at our grocery store, the fellow that guides me into the car wash, people that fix the potholes on the roads, even meter readers that come by to see how much electricity and water we’ve used.

There’s a passage in the Scriptures that describes this well: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all the parts are many, they form one body…” (1 Corinthians 12:12). It goes on to point out, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor…” (1 Corinthians 12:21-23).

But there’s another aspect of work that makes it even more meaningful and fulfilling. It’s when we recognize we’re not only serving other people but also the God who created and ordained work. Colossians 3:22-24 states, “Slaves (workers), obey your earthly masters (employers) in everything, and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

With that perspective, how can we ever give less than our very best – no matter what kind of work we find ourselves doing?

Where Does Creativity Come From?

When thinking about creativity, Walt Disney World presents a
fascinating blend of the natural and the manmade.

Have you ever entered a building, new or old, and marveled with amazement at the innovative design, or gone into someone’s exquisitely decorated home, and thought, “Where did they get these ideas?” Or maybe a book consumed your attention from beginning to end – whether a novel with totally unexpected plot twists or a non-fiction work thoroughly researched and engagingly written – prompting you to ponder, “How does somebody write like that?”

We see countless other examples – movies, TV shows, photographs, musical productions and songs, paintings and sculptures, cartoons and graffiti – so original, rather than retreads of time-worn ideas, we can’t help feeling captivated and wishing for more.

The ceiling of the China exhibit at Disney World's
Epcot center offers visitors a captivating
array of colors and designs.

Having spent my entire career in the creative arts – writing, photography, and dabbling a bit in graphic design – I’ve often wondered about creativity. From whence cometh the ideas? Often I’m not even certain about the origin of my own. When I started this blog, for example, I listed half a dozen ideas for posts before starting. I didn’t want to run out of material and cease posting after a week or two. But I’ve been blogging for several years and there still seems no shortage of ideas. (Of course you, the reader, might think differently!)

Sometimes when I see one of Hollywood’s latest films or try reading a science-fiction novel, I have suspicions the ideas might be byproducts of people smoking funny-smelling cigarettes or drinking too much alcohol with worms at the bottom. But for the most part, I think creative inspiration flows out of everyday life and experience.

A fundamental principle of architecture states “form follows function.” Once a means for fulfilling the specific function is determined, creativity allows the designer to manipulate form to achieve surprising and often striking aesthetic effects. I think this holds true for other pursuits as well.

Settings like this surrounding
Cinderella's castle transports
the viewer to a different
time and place.

Writers understand you can’t write about what you don’t know or haven’t experienced. So we either do extensive research, learning about the subject and thereby equipping ourselves to write about it, or we stick to topics we’re familiar with. That’s why you’ll never see me writing about hang-gliding, skydiving or competing in a triathlon – unless it’s from a spectator’s perspective. I want to know whereof I write, but there are places I won’t go to gain the necessary “whereof”!

Ultimately, however, I believe creativity has an even more profound source. The Bible opens by declaring, “In the beginning God created….” Later the triune God announces, “Let us make man in our image…. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” (Genesis 1:26-27).

This has nothing to do with physical appearance, such as limbs, fingers and toes, but rather His character and attributes. We often hear it said, “God is love,” but He’s also many other things – creative being one of them.

For me, the incredible, infinite variety we can observe in nature reveals God’s boundless creativity. Snails, the praying mantis, platypus, porcupine, giraffe, hummingbirds, broadleaf trees and conifers, roses and daisies, gentle streams and gaping canyons, soaring mountains and sprawling deserts, serene lakes and pounding oceans. All to me express the imagination of our Creator God.

And to think we can share – be partakers – in His wondrous attribute of creativity, utilizing tools like words, paint, notes and scales, fabric, steel, plaster and wood, brass and porcelain, cameras, sculpting tools, pencils and pens, musical instruments and vocal cords to create and design things suited for all tastes and preferences.

That’s pretty cool if you ask me!

Impossible Is Not Possible . . . Until You Quit

In working with my friend, Gary Highfield, on his new book, When ‘Want To’ Becomes ‘Have To!’, I learned much from the wisdom he gained in overcoming great personal adversity. One statement that has particularly resonated with me is, “Impossible is not possible…until you quit.”

Think about it: Impossible is not possible…until you quit.”

A simple statement, only seven words, but at the same time it contains a wealth of truth. It reminds me of inventor Robert Fulton, whose vision for turning steamboats into safe, reliable vessels for transportation was dubbed “Fulton’s Folly.” That is until his steamboat Clermont navigated the Hudson River on an excursion from New York harbor to Albany, N.Y.

S.W. Stanton did this drawing of Robert Fulton's "folly,"
the steamboat Clermont that did the "impossible."

The steamboat traveled only five miles an hour, and the trip took to the state capital took 32 hours, but Fulton proved his detractors wrong. The seeming “impossible” became possible because he refused to quit.

Dr. Ben Carson is known today as a world-class neurosurgeon, honored by CNN and TIME magazine in 2001 as one of the top 20 U.S. physicians and scientists. However, growing up in a single-parent home in dire poverty, with poor grades in school, a volatile temper and low self-esteem, Carson seemed as likely to become a neurosurgeon as a grasshopper to win the Kentucky Derby. But for him the “impossible” became possible because he didn’t quit.

As a teenager, Joni Eareckson Tada suffered a broken neck while diving into a shallow lake, leaving her a quadriplegic, confined to a wheelchair without the use of her limbs. If someone had suggested one day she would become a best-selling author, accomplished artist, singer and much-sought-after speaker, the obvious response would have been, “Impossible!” But she’s become all of that – and more – because she didn’t quit, transforming impossible into possible.

There are countless other inspiring examples we could consider, but sadly there are also many more instances when people did quit – in despair, frustration, or simply impatience – making impossible possible. For some, possible was lurking around the corner, but they gave up just before reaching there. They turned potential success into failure.

One reason I’m so enthusiastic about my faith in Jesus Christ is because I serve the God of possibilities. For instance, the apostle Paul wrote, “I can do everything through (Christ) who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Jesus told His followers, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).

Have you ever had a dream, a lifelong, deeply held desire that you’ve been afraid to pursue because it seems impossible – or because other people told you it’s impossible? Maybe that’s not right, and maybe the other people were lying to you. What if what you’ve believed was impossible actually is possible – unless you quit?

Remember the promise God gives in Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Has the Lord given you a consuming passion to do something, a calling you can’t forget or deny? Then it’s not impossible. Trust that if you delight in Him, He’ll bring it to fruition.

Write Plans on Paper – God Has the Eraser

Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray. And leave us nothing but grief and pain, of promised joy.” (That’s not exactly the words Burns used, but unless you’re partial to his Scottish dialect, the modern English works fine.) Anyway, everyone that’s experienced much of life knows how true that is. Plans, whether big or small, have an annoying way of getting changed – even when you have no say in the matter.

You neatly plan your day and you’re ready to get started when the phone rings. A loved one or a friend has an emergency. “Can you come – right now?” Or you arrive at the office, thinking about the tasks you need to accomplish, when you’re told of an important, unscheduled departmental meeting in 15 minutes. Or the day arrives for the long-awaited outing and, contrary to the weather person’s promise last night, a torrential downpour has settled in.

When you're formulating your plans, avoid writing 
them in ink - and always have an eraser handy.

Years ago, as a new assistant editor at a suburban newspaper, I was toiling alone on a quiet Saturday morning. Saturdays typically were slow news days, so getting my feet wet in drawing up the front pages for the day seemed a simple task. I’d finished my layout sheets to instruct people in the composing room where each article and photo was to go. I was basking in a feeling of accomplishment when the unthinkable happened: the bell on the wire service machine rang, alerting me to major breaking news.

“Oh, no,” I thought. “The pages are done. I can’t make changes now!” I was tempted to act as if I’d gone suddenly deaf and hadn’t heard the bell, but was experienced enough to know that when news breaks you can’t ignore it.

A school bus had crashed in California, killing a number of students. Even though the news wasn’t from our area, I knew I couldn’t get by with leaving the nice photo of the tall ships and the cute little feature story on the front page. It was time to start over – and the press deadline was approaching.

Before I became overcome with panic, the managing editor came in, just to “check in” and see how I was doing. Seasoned veteran that he was, he immediately assessed the situation, took control, rearranged the stories for the front page, including the account of the tragic crash, and the paper was ready for the presses with minutes to spare.

Rather than berating my incompetence at coping with a sudden change under pressure, my boss offered a kindly word of advice I’ve cherished ever since: “Always have a plan B.”

Recently I read a quote that said, “Write your plans on paper – and remember that God has the eraser.” Looking over my more than six decades on earth, considering the convoluted course my life and career have followed, that’s proved true for me. And frankly, I’m glad God is the one with the eraser.

One of the first Bible passages I learned is Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Many times, in both my professional and personal life, I felt certain what I planned to do was right only to discover God had a very different plan. His “plan B.” More often than not, a better plan than I could have imagined.

That’s why I’ve found assurance in this promise: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:4-7).

When it comes to planning, to borrow the line from the old Robert Young sitcom, Father does know best. He’s good at implementing plan B – and really knows how to handle an eraser.