So, today Ava and I made a recipe we found on Pinterest....for sidewalk paint. Sounds super fun, huh? It was fun and she seemed to really like it. But eventually I, being the maverick that I am, decided to improvise on the instructions. Which were simple enough (1/2 cup of water and a 1/4 cup of corn starch and some food dye to make it spiffy. Super simple and fun.) But when we got in the middle of the project and were almost done I looked at the concoction and didn't feel like it was very paint-y looking. It was closer to the texture of milk or maybe juice. Just a little bit thicker, maybe, but still really liquid-y. But obviously this was a far cry from paint, and I needed a much thicker texture so that the kids could paint without it splashing everywhere and having their art projects become drippy and smeared because of paint right?! Uh, wrong. But I didn't realize it. So I thickened our little experiment, and it looked more paint-ish. But it didn't work out too well when we actually painted on the sidewalk. It dried funky, and was kinda hard to use. Thinner paint would have been a lot easier and more fun to use. Even though logic seemed to dictate that it should be about the same texture as other paints, yeah? I got too focused on what I was used to and what I'd seen work before to really process that I needed to do something different for a different type of texture.
Hm. Sounds familiar. Sticking with the status quo. Planning based on what's always seemed to work in the past rather than taking each individual case into consideration. Not following directions fully because they don't seem to make sense. Coming up with back up plans and adjusting things when the plan seems like it won't work. Oh, I know why. It's because that's the story of my flipping life.
Where do I even get off? Isaiah 53 what? "All we like sheep...."
Once again....I'm reminded of how often I've turned to my own way and tried to figure things out for myself instead of fully and actively trusting God to figure it out for me.
Trust. Even when it doesn't make sense. Even when it looks like there's a piece of the puzzle missing. Trust.
I think, we all could use these reminders. There's a God who loves us and wants what's best for us, even when our finite minds can't grasp that version of "best". He's never promised His best would be the comfortable, safe or easy thing. But He promised our faith-filled lives would NOT go unnoticed, and we'd never have to be alone. He's promised that He's good. He's promised that He is present in the mess, joy and all the rest that makes up our lives, and He is actively working on our behalf constantly. He's promised that there will be a day when we can see things from a better perspective and they'll make more sense (maybe not even total sense in Heaven, I'm not sure.) but they will be more understandable.
Those are promises I can stand on. That's something I can really let marinade my heart and dwell on. That's reason enough for me to live life with hope and faith. That's reason enough for me to ask and think through questions instead of make assumptions. Because I truly belive He's a trustworthy God. I want to live like it.
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