Forming an Alliance

I have always lived under the illusion that whatever I am doing at any given moment is clearly God's plan. If it were not God's plan, I would not be doing it. It's a tough line for me to understand. The difference between my choices and God's direction.

I prefer to float through life with the understanding that what I believe to be true and just will guide me to the next "best place". In many ways this has worked well for me. Doing good equals receiving good things. Being just means living in a just world. Loving others means love will come to you abundantly. I like these simple rules of living that have often soothed my soul.

When someone starts a conversation with, "Do you want the good news or the bad news?", I will always say "the good news". I then secretly hope that the story teller gets so excited about the good news they will forget all together the other misfortune they feel they must report to me. Like a child who clings to their teddy bear and fairy tales, I want to hear only good things and ignore the evil, or negatives, of the world.

Yesterday morning I was listening to one of my favorite morning radio shows, The Bob and Sherri Show. Often this pair is light hearted and jovial. Many mornings I have spent laughing out loud as I commute to work. Yesterday there was a different tone to the closing message. Sheri's stepfather died recently and she was discussing how her mother spent the first Christmas without her husband. Sheri then ended the show with a comment her mom made to her as they were hanging up the phone, "Some people are not living the life they are meant to be living. They are living the life they chose instead. And that is a far worse feeling than grief."

"Woe to the obstinate children,"
declares the Lord,
"to those who carry out plans that are mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit..."
Isaiah 30:1

My comfortable, cozy place of rest that whatever I am doing must always be the place God wants me, is not quite so. Without consultation and attempts to align with your Spirit, Your God, and all that you know to be true, you can not be sure you are living the life you are meant to be living. And, like the radio personality pointed out, not living that life is a far worse fate of unresolved pain. It is a suffering life. Feeling pain and grief is inevitable, but, we are not intended to suffer. We are not meant for that. Focus today on forming an alliance with the true Spirit. Confirm that you will live the life you are destined to have.