Following God through the intersections

  Just follow God. Seems like an easy enough idea, especially if you have  a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night leading you. But all I saw when I looked out my back door this morning was the neighbor's cat slinking up on my bird feeder and the prismatic glints of early light on the thin crystals of dew.

So what does following God look like? If the number of How-to books lining the Christian bookstore shelves are any indication, lots of us are wanting to know. Funny, how we are supposed to be the people with the answer.

Actually, I think Nike is onto something with their slogan: Just Do It. Pastor Cho says it another way: "I pray, and I obey."

Being a type A, doer, controller, I struggle with whether I've done enough on my part and whether I believe God will really do His. I'm beginning to see (Thank you, Lord, may I live long enough to grasp this) that my worries are all wrapped up in me: whether I made the right decisions, whether I planned well enough, whether I am good enough, smart enough, attractive enough . . .But it's not about me--I am the messenger.

It's beginning to sink in--He really has given me (and you) a message, and He really will orchestrate its fulfillment.

Recently, I attended a writers conference. For those attendees with books to sell and futures to plot, this can be an intense experience. You are allowed to sign up for short appointments with agents and editors, but if you can't get an appointment, you can sit with them at their assigned dining table and hope for your moment of attention. Of course, everyone is doing the same thing., trying to get the same ear.

The first morning, my friend and I entered the dining hall prepped like conquerors ready to stalk  and bag our first interviews. Our plan was immediately thwarted. There weren't any names assigned to the tables.

"So what are we going to do?" my friend said. "How are we going to know who to sit with?"

A novel thought came out of my mouth. "I guess we're going to have to leave it up to God."

 And with that, right at the intersection of the salad bar aisle and the coffee pot, I ran smack into the first person I wanted to see.

"Where are you sitting?" he asked.

Three times during the course of the conference, the Lord orchestrated intersections of my life with others whom I had no intention, plan or plot to see. One offered free counsel I didn't even know I needed. Another played a part in continuing the saga (in a previous post) of how I prayed for the jungle captives in Columbia. (A story for another day.) And a third gave me a solid connection I needed.

So what does following God look like to me today now that I'm back with all my "what if's?"

When worry, anxiety, and fear of all the whatevers threaten to make off with my peace, I am going to choose to believe that 1. He is God 2. He knows me. 3. He created me for a purpose. 4. He will accomplish that which concerns me.

I'm going to practice what Jesus summed up so simply, ". . . that you believe in Him whom He has sent."