Walls, Boulders, and Wings

Oprah Winfrey has a column in her magazine she calls, “What I Know For Sure,” where she asks successful people to share their wisdom by completing that sentence. If I were ever considered a successful person by the editors at “O” and were asked to complete that sentence I think I’d say something like this:

What I know for sure is that we do not walk through this life alone. There is a wise and loving God who is ready, willing and able to show us his good pleasing and perfect will for our lives.

Do those words sound familiar? They come from one of my favorite chapters of the Bible, Romans 12.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

It’s taken me a while, but I think I’ve figured how to do that... how to test and approve what God’s will is. I use a method I like to call walls, boulders and wings.

Walls – I have a very active imagination. Ideas are forever popping up in my head. So when an idea comes to me I generally go for it. But sometimes my ideas are not in line with God’s plan for me. And God shows me this by putting a wall in my way. Here’s an example. A few years back I was thinking of joining a choir that meets in Mankato. I went to one of their concerts, talked to the director, and was all set to try out. Then I found out they rehearse on Tuesday nights. Tuesday nights we have hand-bell practice. That was a wall for me. Sure, I was a bit disappointed, but not too much. I figured it was God’s way of showing me he didn’t really want me to be in that choir after all, and I was okay with that. Who am I to question God’s will?

Boulders – Boulders may look a bit like walls when you first come to them, but there are ways to get around (or climb over, or dig under, or drill through) a boulder. For lack of a better example, let me tell you what we had for lunch yesterday. I was going to make barbecued chicken and fries. I preheated the oven and threw in some frozen french fries. Then I took a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut them into bite-sized pieces, and fried them up. When it came time to add the barbeque sauce, I hit a boulder. We were out. Hummm. Now what? Well, I used to make a stir fry with chicken and green peppers that was pretty good. I had a few green peppers in the fridge, so I chopped some up and threw them in the pan. But my old stir fry recipe was never all that exciting. I wondered if a little teriyaki sauce might be nice. It was worth a try. Just as I was about to put that in, I remembered what Sara Evers once told me about corn starch; that it helps make a gravy in stir fries. Even though I had a box of corn starch in the cupboard for years, I’d never once used it for cooking. (I only got it to make oobleck. The video at the end of this blog will show you what oobleck is.) So I sprinkled a little corn starch in the pan, and then added the teriyaki. By the time the fries were done I had created a brand new dish that even my 16-yr. old son declared was “pretty good,” high praise coming from him. The meal was a hit, and it was only because of those boulders which sent me in a new and unexpected direction. To God be the Glory!

Wings – If you’ve ever ended up in a good place without really knowing how you got there, that’s the way it is when God picks you up in his wings and carries you. Things just sort of happen the way they were supposed to happen. You might hear something on the radio that gets you thinking, or bump into someone who tells you something that plants a seed in your head. The ways and means God uses are beyond my comprehension, but what God ordains always happens, and it’s always good.

As active as my imagination is, it’s no match for God’s will. The Bible describes God as being able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. Immeasurably more! What an exciting road we are on. So don’t get down when you stub your toe on that boulder. Figure out how to get around it. And if that boulder turns out to be a wall, rejoice! God’s will is being revealed to you. His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

ONE VERY IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTE: I can’t write a blog (or an article for “O” magazine) about the way God guides us through life without mentioning two critical components: faith and prayer. My walls, boulders, and wings method will only work if you know without a doubt that you have a Lord and Savior, and look to His Word as your number one authority on who he is and where he’ll take you. Secondly, enjoying frequent, if not constant dialog with your Lord through prayer is essential to following God’s will for your life. What a privilege to say “Thy will be done,” and know that it will!

And now, a cute little video about corn starch suspension, also known as "oobleck."