This isn't covered in the Manual...

Yesterday we began reading the "40 Days of Purpose book", and I'm delighted to say, our son Chris is also reading it. Well, we got to Sunday night, and he "wanted a chat". His concern ( having read Chapter 1) was that he thought that any career he wanted to follow would be of his choosing, but having read the first few pages, he thought that this book was saying that God would "ask me to drop everything" at a moment's notice to do what God "demanded". He really wasn't too sure about that.

Well, part of me wanted to reassure him - to say that God "probably wouldn't do that".

But in all honesty, I couldn't.

I have no idea what God has in store for him, or for me - many's the time I wish I did. I like feeling safe, and I know I often feel nervous about new things. I was listening to a radio programme the other day about building materials ( much more interesting than it sounds!), and one of the contributors was saying that no-one wants to be the first architect or contractor to use a brand new material in a huge public building - but they're OK at being the SECOND ones to use it. Preferably, they'd like to be the first people to use something which has a 10 year proven track-record!

Oh, how human.

There are many manuals out there which claim to tell me how to be a better parent. Most of them say opposite things to each other. But nowhere in such earthly manuals does it tell me how to prepare my own son for the possibility of God's call on his life. The only manual that makes any sense of it at all is God's own Word. Thankfully, God's Word is full of encouragement to us as parents, because it tells us stories of real families - those who squabbled and fought, through sibling rivalry, unhealthy ambition and bitter disappointments. In the words of Scripture, parents are real people, often making mistakes, but having to throw themselves on the Author of The Manual to find a way through. No-one can know the full purpose God has for my life, or Chris's, or anyone else's, save God Himself. And I will always be the first one to tread this particular path, for it is unique to me. The "materials" along the way will always be new, and maybe at this stage, untested

But what I DID say to Chris, was that if God ever DID ask him to "drop everything", it would be because the thing which God would then place into his hands would be far, far better than anything he'd ever had before.

Pat's Thought for the Day
A longstanding Kennett motto has been "When all else fails, read the instructions". When it comes to God's Ultimate Manual, I think that maybe this should be reversed, .....