A big conversation with a little boy.

Tuesday night I had a PTA meeting, and the Mister was working late so the kids went with me. The meeting ran late, which always throws me into a tizzy trying to get home and get the kids in bed because, poor things, they are up late way too often.

When we got home I sent them straight to their rooms to get ready for bed. Jacob was being poky, and I was scurrying around trying to hurry him along as usual. "Come on, buddy, it's time for bed. Hurry up. Come on. Get your jammies on."

I turned to hurry to Kloe's room to make sure she was getting her pj's on too, and as I headed out the door of Jacob's room he stopped me with a question.

Jacob: "Mom?"
Me: *sigh* (turning back into his room) "What?"
J: "Does God have plans for my future?"

??!??!

Me: "Yes, He does have plans for you, buddy. The Bible says God has GOOD plans for you. Plans for your future."
J: Well, if God has plans for me, then why do I keep getting in trouble so much?"
M: "You've been getting in trouble a lot?"
J: "Yeah, I keep getting 5 minutes." {5 minutes sitting out during recess}
M: "For what?"
J: "I keep forgetting my library book."
M: "Well, you get consequences so that it will help you remember to do what you're supposed to."
J: "But if God has plans for me, why doesn't He make me remember?"
M: "Because you have a choice. He doesn't MAKE you do anything. He lets you choose whether or not you'll do what you're supposed to."
J: "But He's in control of me."
Me: -- silence -- "Umm...." (Inside my brain, a thousand thoughts are tumbling over each other. Don't we always teach our kids that God is in control? Yes, definitely....God is in control. Um, but He's not in control of you? Wait, no. He IS in control of you. Sort of. Wow. I always thought I had this figured out. Just exactly how much is God in control? Yes, He's in control of everything. But not us. No, wait. He IS in control of us. But not really. We get to choose. Man this is hard....)

Me: "He does have plans for you, but He doesn't MAKE you do those plans. He gives you a choice. You get to choose whether or not to do what He plans. But things always work out better for us if we choose His way." Whew. "Now put your pajamas on."

I have no idea what all that was about, and at the time I really didn't think all that much about it. Until today, when I got one of those chain email thingies with Jeremiah 29:11 on it - from two different friends. And then I read this post from Amy over at Building the Blocks, about lukewarm Christians, and choosing the parts of the Bible that are "safe and convenient". About being brainwashed by the world into believing that money and comfort are what life is all about - even for a Christian. About choosing God 100%, all the way, at any cost, no matter what anyone thinks.

Amy wrote, "We have been brain washed that we can ‘control’ our lives and our futures if we make the right plans."

Yes, God has good plans for us, but He won't MAKE us choose them. It's up to us to choose. To choose the easy, convenient, comfortable way, or to choose God regardless of what that looks like. Sometimes God's good plans for us don't look all that good to us in the beginning. Can't God's way be easy? Maybe. Convenient? Sometimes. Comfortable? Hardly ever. Because (I know you've heard it dozens of times just like I have) God is far more concerned with our character than our comfort.

Tonight in the video at Bible study (Jesus the One and Only, by Beth) she talked about John preparing the way for Jesus. That his primary purpose in life was to make straight paths for the coming Messiah. The Greek word for "path" in Luke 3:4 means "a beaten pathway." Then Beth asked, "Are you preparing for a powerful work of God in your life? Have you prepared a pathway for Him by going to Him over and over and over and over, so that He can pour His power into your life? What debris is in the way? God wants to do a new thing in your life - but it will require you to go places you've never been before. You must let go and move on."

His plans.
He has good plans for us. For me.
But I must choose. I must choose Him.
I must prepare the way.
Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for Him.
Remove the debris. Go to Him over and over and over.
Let go and move on - to places I've never been before.

"Consecrate yourselves {choose, prepare, straighten, remove, let go - my words}, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." Josh. 3:5