13 years

Do you remember 13 years ago? 1994. A lot has changed since then. Somethings have not. In 1994, I graduated college and started my first professional job, the same job I hold today. The same job!? Amazing? Not really. Different and usual? Maybe, especially compared to many friends and relatives. Many have had changed jobs or started entirely new careers. Some have moved across town or across the country. Think of all the decisions we make in life. What we will do? Where we will live? Who we will marry? These questions don't always have obvious answers. Sometimes we do what we are supposed to do. Sometimes we don't. Sometimes we are faithful and trust in God's providence. Other times we make rash decisions based on selfish wants or bad information. Each time we learn there are consequences to the choices we make. Some good. Some bad. All of them change us.

We read throughout scripture of people making choices to either follow God or go against His will. In the end, those are really the only choices we can make. To follow Him or not. Each day is a result of the choices we made the day before. Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." Trust Him. Ask Him. Seek Him. Know Him. Align yourself in His Will. And He will make your decisions right. A perfect promise. Yet, we struggle. Struggle to believe the promise. Struggle in our sin nature to place our faith completely in Him.

Read Genesis 16 & 17. Abraham struggled for 13 years with the consequences of a fateful decision. In chapter 12, God commanded Abram to leave and go in faith, establishing the covenant (a promise) of a great nation. By chapter 16, impatient and lacking faith, Abram decided to not trust in God's promise and tried to do it on his own. Impatient and lacking faith? Sound familiar? Chapter 17 begins 13 years later with God, always faithful, reminding the rebellious Abram of His promise. God never changed. God did not forget. God always had a plan. Yet, Abram needed to learn the consequences of not trusting the Lord with all his heart.

As I reflect on my past 13 years, I recognize God's faithfulness in spite of me. I am blessed developing a career here in WNY with the opportunity to stay close to family and the familiar. I have grown up in a healthy church ministry serving Him in a fun and creative way. My home has provide both financial structure and a place to build relationships with fun gatherings and neighborhood activity. Yet I continue make some bad decisions, deal with the consequences and anxiety and conflict. But through it all, I see God working in my life. Sometimes my expectations do not match up. And sometimes I am surprised with blessing. I learn, sometimes late, that God is always, has been always and will be always in control of my path… along this 7 mile journey… a faith walk with Him… 13 years, 13 days, 13 minutes, 13 seconds from my last decision.

I pray. I hope. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."