Saturday morning I was reading my new "project"- I am in my 3rd month of reading one of the 31 chapters of Proverbs every day- and I hit on a verse that really spoke to me. Not just for what it said, but what I had just gone through, and the bigger message I found in it.
You see, Scrappy is proceeding down the "everything is falling apart" path, and lately the problem has been because of his water obsession, he spends his "bathroom time" licking up snow rather than TCOB. As a result, he has been dealing with, well, problems that have necessitated me taking him out on walkabout after his breakfast to make sure he gets #2 done. That morning we had success even as the snow fell all around us, and when we came in he went around licking up snowprints we brought in- and then had a tiny little accident. One of a string of such incidents which is lowering quality-of-life for all involved.
The discussion has been had lately about Scrappy's future, and you can guess it is very emotional and I am very conflicted. I know, not Sunday Message material here, but let me get to the Proverbs part. You see, one of the great things about this book is that there will ALWAYS be something that speaks to you that you never noticed before, if you are faithful in praying and reading. And Saturday, I read this verse:
Pro 19:18 Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
Boom, anyone? Now, I am not suggesting either that we are that close- though the day seems to be closing on me- or that this is God telling me not to do it. In fact, Scrappy's situation is just a facet of what I see here.
What I get is, that in the course of trying to do things in our own strength, in applying our own wisdom to a situation, we often get fixated on the concept of "one solution"- that this is the only way out, because it's the only path I can see.
God sees more. In fact, God can open up a range of HIS solutions to what is going on. But the key is giving it to God. You might be looking at one facet of the entire problem, and God's solution makes you say, "But that doesn't do anything for my REAL problem"- when the problem is you aren't even recognizing the REAL problem. Or, you are just perception-limited in what God can do to resolve it.
But beware. I have noticed that you can be "led" to think God is involved in a way He isn't- like I talked about in the "lesson and circumstance" post a few weeks ago- and Satan might be using it in a way to lead you to the false conclusions of, "God doesn't care, God is cruel, God is playing games." When you hit that point, you know it's time to reject that path.
And before I get into a "big picture" analogy here, let me sum up the point. Anytime you feel there's only one way out, consider this verse...
Pro 19:18 Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
...For there is HOPE.
