Month: November 2022

Many families follow the same tradition of fixing a nice turkey for Thanksgiving. And our family was no different – I remember many wonderful turkey dinners with my family. However, there is one Thanksgiving that I know my mother did not enjoy at all. Regrettably, that is my fault entirely.

For the first couple years of my life instead of fixing a whole turkey Mom always just fixed a turkey breast. With two small children that was all we needed anyway, not to mention that is the best part of the turkey. This worked out well until I turned five years old, started kindergarten, and became a woman (well actually girl) of the world. That year we sat down for dinner and Mom brings the turkey breast and all the other food to the table.

And what do I do but immediately start crying. “I thought you said we were going to have turkey,” I yelled between the wailing. Of course Mom tried to explain that it was a turkey, just part of it. But you see I had seen a picture of what a real turkey looked like at school and this wasn’t it. “But it doesn’t have any legs,” I responded, still crying. Of course Mom tried to explain that it was still the same thing. However, if you have ever tried reasoning with a five-year-old then you know that her situation was pretty hopeless. Her Thanksgiving was pretty much ruined that year because I had hurt her feelings. (Mom, I’m really sorry.)

So how does this tie into our walk as Christians? It’s pretty simple. I sat down that year with a pre-conceived idea of what a turkey looked like. (Okay, I know as a five-year-old I didn’t know what pre-conceived meant, but that’s what it was.) Anyway, when that meal did not fit the picture I had in my mind then I automatically assumed it was wrong. As Christians we do this almost on a daily basis.

God knows us inside out and knows what is best for us. He also has a plan for our life which if followed will allow us to be truly happy and at peace. The problem is we sometimes jump ahead before finding out what he wants us to do. When faced with a situation or problem we get our own pre-conceived ideas of how we think it should be handled. And when God’s way doesn’t go along with our thinking then we get upset. We think he isn’t listening to our prayers or he’s ignoring us. That is so far from the truth.

All he is doing is waiting for us to really come to him with an open heart and an open mind to hear what he has to say about the matter. But often we are afraid to do that, because he may ask us to do something we don’t want to do. For example, say you have a co-worker who is difficult to get along with and perhaps has wronged you in some way. You may be sitting there waiting for Divine Providence to come down and help you get revenge. However, God may be sitting there waiting for you to forgive this person. You don’t want to forgive, you want to see revenge. Until you step back and say, “Thy will be done” and do what he asks then the situation may never be resolved.

“They will be done.” We say that at least once a week during the Lord’s Prayer on Sunday. But how often do we really pray it and mean it? It’s really a hard prayer to pray sometimes. We know it can put us in an awkward and perhaps unpleasant situation. But on the other hand it can also free us to be what God really wants us to be.

So we need to learn to put aside our pre-conceived ideas of how we think God should act in our lives and just let him act. The results can change our lives forever.

Written in November 1998 for my Church’s Newsletter.