I want to do it my way!

Shoes on the wrong feet!

On a recent beach trip, we had the joy of spending time with our two precious grandsons. One grandson had just turned two:). Everything was "No, Pat-Pat" "No, Pops" or "No, Daddy." He is in the wonderful stage that all babies go through when they assert their rights as individuals. We would be most worried if they did not go through this stage. 

I could not help but realize that striking comparison between Caleb and myself! As you can tell from the photograph, Caleb had insisted on putting on his own shoes. No amount of explaining could convince Caleb that his dad had a better way of putting those shoes on his feet. Finally Ben gave up and "Just put them on yourself." Even after he put them on the wrong feet, he would not allow his mind to be changed about those shoes.

How often do I battle against God when he tries to help me "put on my shoes"? He knows that there is a right way and a wrong way to run my life. How often do I stubbornly tell God," I can do this myself? "  or "I do NOT need your help!"  He sees that I am clearly going in the wrong direction. He who knows all from past to future. He who knows how I am fearfully and wonderfully made. He who knows how I should eat and drink. He who knows how to help me spend my money(is it even my money?). He who loves me perfectly, far more than Caleb's dad loves him. He lavishes good gifts on me like I am his bride or something. We are the bride of Christ, actually.

God continues to warn us if we are putting on our shoes the wrong way. He allows us put on our shoes in the most wrong way! We are not even smart enough to see how ridiculous we look when we do this. Many times others can see that we put on our shoes on the wrong feet but we are blinded by pride and will not admit it.
Sometimes God warns us that the shoes we are about to try are not the correct size. They are too small or too large. Instead of thanking him for his wise intervention, we plow full steam ahead. What happens is that we get blisters on our feet. Even if the shoes are uncomfortable and clumsy, we continue to wear that shoe or worse yet… we blame God for the consequences that we caused. When we go ahead of him in our plans to live with a potential spouse and it ends badly. When we go into a business venture without praying first and asking him for guidance and then it bombs big time. When we eat as WE please and not what fits our health and then we are angry that we can't seem to lose weight. We are head over our heals in debt because we financed everything that we thought we had to have and then we are bitter about that. We ALL do this.

Guess who yells at us the loudness when we put on our shoes the wrong way…the liar, the accuser, the enemy. God does not do this.  Ben smiled when Caleb struggled with his choice and said "Caleb, can I help you fix this?" God, through the Holy Spirit, says gently, "Can I help you fix this?" And he can fix it if we are willing to allow him to do that. Caleb finally, after much gentle coaxing, realized that his way was not comfortable, It was not working at all like he thought it would. So he sat down and let a wise daddy fix those shoes. Might be time for us to quit being so silly and stubborn. Just sit down and allow a wise Father to help us. He wants to and he is able to. The only thing stopping him is our stubborn pride.