Father Knows Best

 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3: 5, 6

    The above verses are a cinch as long as your life is going in the direction with which you agree. But what happens when you're being lead where you do not wish to go?

    I was watching "Leave it to Beaver" the other day. In this episode, the parents put in an offer on a house in another city, which displeased the older brother, Wally, very much. He had accomplished friendships and participation with athletic teams where he currently lived and, well, he just did not want to go! 

    Catching wind of this, the dad had a talk with Wally. Putting his arm around his son's shoulders, he said, "You know that I wouldn't do anything that was wrong for you, don't you?" 

    My heart quickened as if God tapped me on the shoulder. You see, I can identify with how Wally felt as I dispiritedly see that what's happening in America is leading where I do not want to go, but God has another path in mind for me. I may have to go through discomfort, sorrow or sadness along the journey, but there's also much good to enjoy, too, especially when I place my faith in my Father's plan on not on my own conceptions.

    When Jesus reinstated Peter after he had denied knowing his Lord three times, He told his apostle:

    "Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." (John 21:18)

    Scripture tells us he said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Tradition says when Peter was sentenced to death by crucifixion, he chose to be crucified upside down so as not to lessen the glory of Jesus's sacrifice. When I imagine this same man in his younger days as a married fisherman in Galilee, it likely never occurred to him that he would die in this way, but I remain convinced he would not have had it any other way once he received his inheritance. 

    Our Father really does know best.