A lesson to be learned...

I have recently come to some understanding that life is, as much as anything else, a continual journey throughout which important lessons are learned along the way...In recent months I have learned one big lesson- That I AM NOT IN CONROL. 

This is both a liberating and sometimes daunting thing to be reminded of, and it's a lesson that has been often taught to me and others I know 'the hard way'.

Far too often, I slip into the mindset of living my life believing myself to be in the driving seat. After all, I am the one making decisions and taking actions that lead to consequences. I choose where to go and what to do...But then the rug is pulled out from beneath me and I am once again reminded that it is in fact God who has his hands on the wheel. The famous Burns quote "The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglay" is one that rings true, often with enough clarity to bring you to your knees. The truth is, no matter what my great and wonderful plans are, I do not control all things.  

As a matter for illustration, take this example; Me and Bex recently bought a car. We had paid the deposit to the owner having found a great deal on a great little motor and were looking forward to receiving it. Within days of paying the deposit, the car had been written off in a crash. Now we are back to the drawing board. Our great and clever plans were out of our hands all along.

The snow that falls from the sky and disrupts the nation, the car that appears and is crushed to a cube within a few days, the friend whose mother becomes ill and dies within 8 weeks, the collapse of an entire economy...all these things remind me that I cannot claim to have any sovereignty over anything. I am living under the mercy and grace of the one who does have control and sovereignty. 

The best thing is, that despite these lessons being painful, I am left feeling stronger. Like an unruly shrub in need of a good pruning, I need to undergo these lessons, in order that I grow stronger and straighter. God is a great gardener, capable of turning useless shrubs like me into strong and straight trees. He prunes and tends to me because he desires to see me grow into a man of the kind of maturity and strength that I could never achieve without being 'pruned' by these lessons. 

I am so glad that it is not me that is in control and feel sorry for those who fail to embrace this truth and live in the good of it.