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The Mystical Way
The same attitudes and reactions apply to our relationship with our Heavenly Father. If we were fortunate enough to gain an understanding of the ways of the Loving God before we feel the condemnation of His stern side, we know all that occurs has a purpose in the grand scheme of things. As the Master of the Sky and the Master of the Earth make moves in the Eternal Chess Match, the devil manipulates us and God turns those manipulations into something which can be used to further His Plan. The Book of Job in the Old Testament clearly lays out how this came down in the lives of Job and his well-intentioned, but misguided, friends. The devil manipulated the situation from the beginning; then God recorded His way of looking at the men's thoughts and actions as a source of guidance in order that we may be able to understand God's ways. Afterwards, God lavishly rewarded Job for maintaining an attitude of faithfulness through great adversity. Much understanding of God's Mystical Ways can be gained from spending time in the Book of Job.
Anyone old enough to be reading this has probably made some mistakes. The mistake is not as significant as the person's way of reacting to the mistake. If I harshly condemn myself, thinking I've messed up so badly I'll never be able to straighten it out, the devil is snickering in delight. If I justify my actions and expect everyone else to understand, THEN I have really lost--the devil has won the battle, because I've moved into an attitude of self-sanctification. If I turn to The Father and genuinely express my regrets, asking how I can make amends, He'll accept me with all my blemishes. God will provide a way to turn things around.
Do not be surprised if God works through you in the most perplexing of ways. He has no problem with making us feel like a fool. He knows the more foolish I feel today, the greater my delight when I begin to see His Plan come to fruition. Giving me instructions to attend a wedding reception with my gift of an empty wine bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag was highly embarrassing. Having to reply, when asked the significance of the gift, that I did not know what it meant, was doubly difficult. Having to admit weeks later that I still did not know why I was to give such a gift--HARD!! But God has a plan and He knows why--doesn't matter what I know.
"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." --Ephesians 1:11-12 (NIV)
Jane Mullikin
Early in our lives, I suspect all of us hope to live in such a manner as to make our parents proud to call us their children. As time moves on and we fall short of the mark, we are disillusioned with ourselves: some of us keep trying, others retreat in frustration and defeat.
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