Late Night Banking

It was late on a Sunday night, around 10 pm when I arrived at the bank machine to deposit a check.  It was dark; the parking lot was wet from a light rain; there was no one around – not another car in the parking lot.  I went into the bank, deposited the check, withdrew $120, got my receipt and left.

There weren’t many cars on the road; there wasn’t much open.  It was kind of a nice drive.  I had the music in the car cranked, yet it was peaceful.  I had other errands to make, but it was so enjoyable with empty streets and I was getting all the lights.

On my way home, when I got to the last set of lights before my house, for some reason a thought came into my head.  At the bank, I remembered getting a receipt for depositing the money and taking a receipt for the cash I withdrew.  But I didn’t remember taking the cash.

In an instant my quiet, calm peaceful drive turned into panic.  I drove past my turn and put the gas pedal down.  I was about 7 minutes away from that cash machine and I was imagining someone arriving right then to find my bank’s slot machine (I mean, bank machine) had just cashed out, and they won.

I started praying, “Lord, I know there is almost no chance of this happening, but would you keep that money safe for me?”  My mind went back and forth from “maybe it will be there” to “there’s not a chance on the planet that money will still be there”.

The car was moving fast – faster than it should have been moving – but I had no control over it.  I was just trying to steer the vehicle and glad that the streets were clear.  There may have been the odd car that thought I must have had a pregnant wife who was about to deliver her baby, but I went by so fast they couldn’t even tell if there was someone else in the car or not.

I turned at a set of lights, all four tires barely on the road, then made a quick left up to the parking lot.  At first it looked clear but then I saw a car parked outside the bank and my heart sank.

For sure there had been others who had been to the bank.  After all, it had been a half hour since I made that withdrawal.  I screeched up to bank, got out in a flash and went inside the doors.  I looked at the machine . . . no money.  My heart sank, but its not like I  hadn’t pictured it this way.

I turned and went out the door.  That’s when the window of the car parked outside rolled down and a guy called out, “Are you missing some money?”  I said, “Ya, I left $120 in the machine.”  He hopped out of his car and said, “I have it here.”  I thanked and thanked him.  He simply said, “I hope someone would do the same for me.”  I couldn’t believe it.  It was a miracle.

Here’s the thing:  I prayed and asked God to keep the money safe for me, and even though I wasn’t sure He would do it, He even got someone to mind the money for me till I got there.  This reminds me that there is nothing I can’t pray about, nothing that God will refuse me of if I seek Him, even when I have my doubts.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  When has doubt kept you from praying and asking God?

Being Ready on Time

A while ago, Lily and I had a function we needed to be dressed up for.  I worked around the house in the morning, and wasn’t ready to go anywhere.  Lily, on the other hand, had already been out a couple of times that morning.

At lunch we made a plan to get out the door in 20 minutes.  Lily said, “I’m ready.  I just have to get changed, and I know what I’m wearing.”  Me?  Well, I still had to shower, shave, and I hadn’t thought of what I was going to wear.

Getting up from the table we both got busy.  By the time I finished my shower and was on to shaving, I heard a disturbing announcement.  The words were “this outfit isn’t going to work”.

I ignored the comment and kept going; I had a deadline to meet.  When I finished in the bathroom, it appeared that Lily had already tried on and rejected a couple of outfits.  I went straight to the closet, looked in, saw my blue suit and made my choice.  Lily was still deciding what to wear.

Given how we started, how was she panicking and I was right on schedule?  I think I figured it out.  It’s our approach to clothes.

When I looked in the closet and saw my blue suit, the only decision I had to make was which shirt to wear with it.  I have three:  a white one which was in the wash, a blue one which was not really appropriate for the occasion, and a grey one which would work just fine. It was that simple for me.

However, when Lily goes to the closet she sees individual pieces of clothing.  She has to determine which pieces might go together and look the best, kind of like choosing to purchase a new outfit.  She’s had the same clothes in her closet for some time and used them in different combinations, yet still she doesn’t think of what has worked before.  It’s a brand new outfit she is looking for!

I think that’s why there are so many women’s clothing stores in shopping malls.  Women are so used to looking for brand new outfits at home, the store becomes an extension of their home closet.

My solution would be to make an outfit playbook, like they have in football.  You lay out the outfits on the bed or put them on and take pictures of all the combinations.  Then, print them out and put them on your wrist band for easy access in making the call.  You just pick the combo that looks best to you given how you feel and how the defense is shaping up.

In the end, Lily found a combination that worked well and we made it to the function on time.  (I can’t help but point out that, despite how we started, I was still waiting at the front door for her – not that unusual.)

Here’s the thing:  We’re going to get ready for God.  Some will get ready quickly and some will take some time to figure it out.  But we will all get ready to meet God one day. I want to be sure that I’m fully dressed when the time comes and not caught still deciding about Him.  That will be one function I don’t want to be unprepared for.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  If you stood before God today, and He said to you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?”  What would you say?

Maybe “Jersey Shore” is on to Something

I have never really been into fitness, though I have always exercised in some fashion.  You see, I don’t like lifting weights or doing aerobic exercises.  You wouldn’t find me taking out a gym membership or dressing in tight clothes, wearing a head band, moving in front of a TV, and following an instructor who has way too much energy and enthusiasm for one person.

I’d rather play hockey, ride my bike on trails, or have my golf clubs with me when I go for a walk.  In fact, if there is some kind of game associated with an exercise, there’s a good chance that I would enjoy it.

But for the last two weeks, and at least for the next 14, you can picture me in those tight fitting exercise clothes (please don’t) doing some movements, or pumping iron, or going for power walks without golf clubs on my back.  That’s right, I’m a fitness guy now.

It’s not that I want to be a fitness guy, but the cardiac rehab clinic is trying its hardest to turn me into one.  Every day I have to go for a power walk, as well as either do an aerobic workout or weight training.  They give me Sundays off … small comfort.

I haven’t even met with the nutritionist yet, but when I do at the end of the month, I’m sure she’ll slap me with a few dietary restrictions that will officially turn me into a nuts and berries kind of guy.  She just better not pull meat from my diet!  (I don’t consider it a meal if it doesn’t include meat.)

Thankfully, when I exercise in a way that I enjoy – like playing hockey or mountain biking – I can count that.  That’s why on Saturday, instead of doing my thirty minute aerobic exercise, and going for a thirty minute power walk, I went for a two hour bike ride through the woods near our house.  I listened to tunes playing through my ear buds, took in the amazing view of the coloured leaves, and negotiated the slippery, leaf covered trails.  It was an awesome ride!

With everything I’m being instructed to do in a day, I’m starting to feel like I’m on the reality show “Jersey Shore”.  A typical day for Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is GTL which stands for Gym, Tan, Laundry.  He doesn’t have much time for anything else in his day.  I’m beginning to feel the same way!

I know in time I will fit these new things into my daily pattern of life and they won’t feel as forced as they do right now.

Here’s the Thing:  This past Sunday, I spoke about giving control of one’s life to the Holy Spirit.  It has to be something I give myself to on a continual basis or I’ll take back control.  In order for the Holy Spirit to influence my thoughts, words, decisions and actions, I have to allow Him to be in control every day.

That means I have to make some adjustments in life to allow Him room to direct.  That’s not easy.  It means other things might need to be eliminated, or at very least rearranged.  It takes a while to discipline oneself to accommodate those changes, but in time, being controlled by the Holy Spirit will not seem forced.  Rather, it will be my natural pattern of life.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What needs to change in your daily routine to allow the Holy Spirit control? Leave your comment below.

Turn Your Toil Into Joy

Yesterday I had to work late on my sermon.  It was Friday; I like to be done my sermon by 5 pm but it was obvious that was not going to happen.

Every week that Sunday deadline stares me in the face; it’s always on my mind.  Some weeks things go well.  I do a little work on my message each day so that the task is broken down.  Monday mornings I make notes on the passage and from commentaries.  Tuesdays, I read supportive material and start to formulate the main idea of the passage.  Wednesdays, I try to create the outline with supportive scripture.  Thursdays, I write a draft of the message.

These days I’ve been dictating that draft. Its an amazing thing, I speak and my computer types the words.  My wife Lily always laughs when I dictate because the program gets some words wrong … like the other day, when I said, “Because the word…” and the program typed “Because Al Gore.”

I’m not sure what Al Gore had to do with my message – it had nothing to do with saving the planet’s environment!  On the other hand, my sermon did have to do with saving people ON the planet.

Fridays, I edit my message, prepare the media presentation and internet support.  This Friday by 4 pm, I had not even started to write the sermon.  It had been a very difficult week, with many interruptions and meetings.

At 4 pm I was tired, and frustrated because focus had been an issue all week for me.  I was not looking forward to spending all evening writing a sermon.  But as I was checking a reference for something, I ran into a quote that struck me.

The quote was from Samuel Chadwick a Methodist preacher. “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.  He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion.  He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”

I had just finished praying when I read that, asking God to help me get my sermon done quickly.  But something struck me in that quote; it was the part about Satan laughing at our toil.  My sermon writing felt like toil to me right then.  I was not excited about writing it; I just wanted to be done.

After pondering the quote for a moment, I began to pray again.  This time I asked God to give me a passion for my writing.  I asked Him to fill me with excitement and enthusiasm for what I would put down.  I asked Him to give me joy in writing my message, no matter how long it took.  I asked Him to fill me up with the message He wanted me to bring to my congregation.  I prayed, “Lord, don’t let Satan laugh at the work I am doing.”

The Lord answered my prayer, keeping me focussed and moving ahead as I dictated. He filled my mind with thoughts and words and illustrations.  It was a pleasure to write that message, and I finished before 8 pm.

Here’s the thing:  When we are struggling with something, no matter what it is, it’s always a good thing to pray.  Keep in mind that Satan would love to keep you toiling and prayerless.  Do the opposite.  Pray and watch God make your work a joy.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: What do you do when you find your task is more toil than joy?  Leave your comments below.

Anyone Need Their Grass Cut?

Sometimes you start a simple task or job and it grows into something bigger. I have certainly experienced this at times in my life.

One time we had a water leak in our vacation trailer.  I decided to see if I could fix it myself.  I checked and found the problem needed to be fixed from the outside, which meant peeling off the metal shell at the front of the trailer.  I started at the bottom and noticed the problem extended a little higher so I took off the next strip, then the next, and the next.  When I had the whole front of the trailer removed, with just the wood frame left in place, I stepped back and thought, “What have I done?!”  It was way more work than I had thought.

Another time we had a leak in our basement.  I thought I would dig a hole outside and patch the foundation where the leak was.  In the end, the hole I dug was over 5 feet deep and about 12 feet long.  Again, that job got way bigger than I had first thought!

Reading about those two experiences, you might think they weren’t that bad, and that I must be a handy guy.  That’s where you would be VERY wrong!  I’m not that handy, and for all the handy work I have done, I don’t really like it.  It takes me too long; I don’t have the right tools; I make mistakes; I get frustrated; I get discouraged; I cut myself (another story).

Recently, we were at our cottage on a rainy weekend, when we happened to get a break from the rain for a few hours.  I decided I’d better take the opportunity to cut the grass since we wouldn’t be back for a few weeks.

It’s such a small piece of lawn that the job really doesn’t take much time.  But, as I was running the lawnmower over our grass, I thought about my brother’s lawn.  He had left his cottage a few hours earlier in the rain and I had noticed that his lawn needed a cut.

Since he’s up at his cottage almost every weekend and often cuts our grass (because we don’t get there all that frequently), I thought it was my chance to return the favour.  So, when I finished our lawn, I walked over to his place and started to cut his grass.

As I got close to finishing, I started to think about my brother’s neighbour who’s wife had just had surgery and was in intensive care at the hospital.  I thought, “That guy doesn’t need to be bothered with his lawn”.  So, as I finished with my brother’s lawn, I just kept going and worked on his neighbour’s.

As I walked back to my place pushing my lawnmower, I realized this was one of the few times a job that got bigger didn’t become frustrating or discouraging.  In fact, I walked with a sense of satisfaction that I had, in some small way, been a help to others.

Here’s the thing:  One of the greatest ways we can show the love of God to others is not by telling them but by showing them.  The problem is it takes time and, for many of us, time is precious.  We don’t have a lot of extra time to allow the task or job we are working on to become any bigger.  But sometimes that is exactly how we are to “love one another as I have loved you” John 13:34.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: What kind of “loving one another” acts have you done recently?

Let’s Drop the Label Already!

This past week I enrolled in a cardiac rehab clinic.  After having a heart attack in February, and wanting to get back to playing hockey this fall, I thought it would be a good idea.  I want to make sure I don’t have another heart attack … well, at least be aware of all the risks and preventions associated with heart attacks and hockey.

As I talk to medical people, however, I get a little discouraged with their language.  They always refer to me as having heart disease.  I have a hard time with that term “disease” because it sounds like it’s something you carry with you in your body.  I would much prefer to think that I had a heart attack and now I am better, thanks very much.  Let’s not dwell on it, let’s not rub it in, or make me feel like I am in some weakened condition.

There was a time long ago when people who were diseased were kept away from others.  In Bible times, if they did happen to get close to people, those with leprosy had to call out “unclean, unclean”.  At least no one’s making me do that.

People don’t even mind me shaking their hands.  From my best guess, I don’t think I’m passing on heart disease when I touch them … although my neighbour had bypass surgery about three weeks after I had my heart attack.  Maybe there’s something on my street that’s catching.

Before my heat attack I used to just check the “no” boxes on medical information forms, driver’s license renewals and insurance forms.  Now I have to check some “yes” boxes, and that’s a little upsetting.  It’s like the disease never lets you forget and move on.

I remember years ago a friend of mine  had an issue with gluten in his diet, and for a while, had to avoid eating anything with gluten in it.  I called him diseased during that time.  I even had a made up name for it, “glu-tone-eous disease.”  I still went to lunch with him, though I did make fun of him having to eat his Big Mac without the bun.  I thought it was pretty funny back then, but now that I have a disease associated with me, I’m feeling a little more sympathetic.

Probably my biggest concern with being associated with heart disease is that some people, specifically those in the medical profession, will always consider me as diseased.  It’s a label I’m going to have to live with the rest of my life.

But do me a favour, don’t spread it around.  I don’t want people crossing to the other side of the street when they see me coming.

Here’s the thing:  We get many labels attached to us in life.  Some of those labels we like, but some we don’t want to be stuck with.  Sometimes we try to fight the labels placed on us and sometimes we try to hide from being associated with them.  I think that being labeled “believer in Christ” can, at times, be difficult, but it is a label we should wear with pride.  Christ is, after all, Creator of this amazing world, Saviour of this sinful world, and the Lord of my life.  It’s a label I don’t want to shake.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: How do you view being labeled a “Christian” or “believer in Christ”?  Leave your comment below.

Here’s Your Weather Warning!

Here’s a declaration I’ll admit: sometimes the weather man is correct.  The other day I went golfing with my son.  The weather was calling for rain, but since it hadn’t rained all day, I figured the evening would be rain free as well.

I have come to trust in looking outside to predict the weather rather than checking in with the guy who’s paid to give us 37% (approximate) accuracy on any given day.  But this day I didn’t look outside.  It was an opportunity to golf with my son so I jumped at it.

When we started, the sky was a little overcast but there was no hint of rain in those clouds.  By the time we got to the fourth hole, I was noticing some rather dark clouds coming our way.  But we kept going, as if somehow the clouds would part and go on either side of us, leaving a dry channel for us to golf through.

By the time we stepped up to the sixth hole, we were staring at black clouds that were now not that far in the distance.  There were rumblings of thunder which should have been a clue to us.  But we kept going.

It was no big deal – we were just carrying 13 lighting rods apiece in our golf bags, and when we pulled a club out of the bag, it was like saying, “Come on lightning, try to hit this little club.  I’ll swing it a few times to make it a hard target for you to track.”

We were brave, and stupid, but really brave.  We finished the hole, with the clouds almost over top of us.  Though it was only 5:45 pm, it seemed like it was about 7:30 pm with not much daylight left.

As we waited on the 7th tee for some people to clear the green, we saw some flashes of lightning followed quickly by thunder.  Mike took his shot and then I took mine.  It was a short par 3 so we got to the green in no time.

I walked to my ball on the green; Mike was already by the hole when I thought I heard something in the distance.  I bent down to check my ball, and I heard what sounded like a hundred horses running towards us.

I said, “What is that?”, then looked at Mike and yelled, “The rain’s coming!”  I took off running for the cart.  I don’t normally golf with a cart but I wasn’t complaining at that moment.  I jumped in just as the rain came pouring down.

Mike pinned the petal to the floor, but golf carts only go so fast.  With the wind and the angle of the rain, we got soaked.  We were driving through puddles, with rain and hail coming down all around.  When we made it back, Mike beached the cart by the overhang of the patio, as if that would keep us from getting more drenched.

It was like a flood; some guy was walking through a puddle that was over his ankles. Someone else said it would clear in about 15 minutes.  We went straight in to get a rain check.  Neither Mike nor I had any desire to preserve our rounds.  It would be best to start again another day.  At least we didn’t get hit by lightning.

Here’s the thing:  In life, God gives us warning signs that we are going down the wrong path or making a wrong decision.  Sometimes those signs seem so far off in the distance, rather than reacting to God’s warning, we keep going, feeling like we still have time.  What happens is we get comfortable living with the warning and even braver as they get closer.  We need to act on God’s warning signs early, because the storm comes in quickly and hard.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  How comfortable have you become continuing on in spite of God’s warning signs?  Leave your comment below.

Canadians and Hockey

There is something weird about us Canadians.  The other day I was out for dinner with my family – that would be 3/4 of my family because one quarter left us for Alberta five years ago and has not yet found her way back.

Anyway, we were in this restaurant having one of my favorite meals, hot wings. This particular restaurant had television screens all over and they were tuned to a sports channel.

I like sports so, even though the sound was off and pop music was playing through the speakers, I found myself watching what was on the screen.  About 5 minutes went by before I realized I’d been watching hockey highlights, goal after goal, great saves, and awesome hits.  But these weren’t highlights from last night’s games – they were from last year!  There’s a hockey strike on right now.

Now that’s Canadian.  It’s hockey season, so strike or no strike we’re going to watch hockey in some form or other.  It was funny because I was ogling the dekes these guys made on the goalies, and banging the table when the goalies made their out-of-nowhere glove saves.

I thought to myself, “Why am I interested in these highlights? I’ve seen them all last year.”  And after 5 or 10 minutes of watching in the restaurant, I’d seen them several more times.  But I kept watching, even though there weren’t many “Leaf” highlights.

I wasn’t the only one watching; my son was watching too.  We talked about what we were looking at as if it had some bearing on world peace or maybe war in the middle east.  There is just something about September that forces us to tune in; it flows through the veins of Canadians, like the urge to pack up the lawn mower and tune up the snowblower (man, I wish I had one of them!).

To be honest, I don’t think this NHL hockey strike is such a bad thing.  Right now my Toronto Maple Leafs have a perfect season going.  In fact, they’re in first place in the league.  I realize it’s a tie with every other team in the league, but hey, if the playoffs started right now, the Leafs would have a chance!

In one Toronto store, I saw on their TVs they were showing a hockey playoff game between Montreal and Philly.  I thought to myself, “This is Toronto and they’re showing a Montreal game?”  Then I remembered, if they showed a Leafs’ playoff game it would be in black and white!

Personally, I believe this strike comes at a good time.  The Leafs haven’t made the playoffs since the last strike so this strike should break the jinx … we’ll probably see them in the playoffs again regularly.

Here’s the thing:  We all have things that grab our interest, command our attention, draw our focus away from everything else.  But does that happen with God?  When you read the Bible, do you get lost in what it’s saying to you?  When you are alone with God, do you lose track of time and everything else around you?  I don’t think it will happen all the time, but at certain moments, seasons of our life, our God should grab our interest, grab our attention, draw our focus away from everything else.  If it doesn’t happen, we should look into why, and make some changes.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: When has God so grabbed your attention that everything else faded around you? Leave your comment below.

Confessions of a Culinary Master

I’m not much of a cook; in fact I would say I don’t really cook at all.  Those who have the same kitchen skills as me might be able to say, “I make a mean Mac’n Cheese”.  But I don’t like Macaroni & Cheese, so I can’t even say that.

I do make my breakfast each morning that consists of cutting up half a grapefruit with a special knife that reduces the preparation time in half.  Along with that, I make a small bowl of Oat Bran Cereal that involves boiling water, 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 cup of oat bran.  You know, just writing that, I feel, makes me sound like I can cook.

Then recently when I was alone at our cottage, and had to cook for myself, I made a meal that looked so good, I took a picture of it.

I know what you’re thinking looking at that picture, it’s got “Chef Silcock” written all over it!  When I put together this meal, how it looked on the plate impressed me so much I was compelled to record it so I could share it with others … at the very least, brag to my wife and daughter who probably wouldn’t even give me a passing grade at cleaning up the kitchen after a meal!

When I ate the meal, it was even better than it looked.  I savoured every morsel of it and when I was done, I sat back and marveled at how it had all turned out.  I didn’t get a passing grade on the clean up though.  I tossed everything in the sink to wash up sometime later.

Now for the confession:  Although I made the salad and cooked the beans, the meat had been pre-cooked by Lily about a week earlier.  She knew I was going to be alone the next week so she prepared it and put it in the freezer.  All I had to do was nuke it (however, I did that to perfection).

For the salad, the lettuce came in a large container.  I just reached in, grabbed a handful, plopped it on the plate, and added some croutons from a box and dressing.  The beans, well, that’s where my experience making Oat Bran came in.  I’ve been heating water on the stove for years!  A little water in a pan, tossed the beans in after cutting off the tips, finished with a little butter on top … de-lish.

Here’s the thing:  I can’t cook, but by all appearances from the picture it looked like I could.  By withholding information on how the meal came together, and by using words that suggested I had cooked it all myself, maybe you had an opinion of me that wasn’t true.  So, how often do we present ourselves or use words to give an impression of our spiritual state that isn’t quite accurate?

We shouldn’t give the impression that we are doing well spiritually when we are not.  On the other hand, we shouldn’t downplay the condition of our relationship with God to others either.  God desires us to live a life of integrity.  If spiritually you are struggling, don’t cover that up.  Get busy and work on it.  If you’re doing well spiritually, let others see and be influenced.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: How do you struggle with integrity before God?  Leave your comment below.

The Doctor Is In

For the last several years I’ve been collecting watches.  I have several . . . actually I have more than several.  The watches I collect aren’t expensive or collector’s editions.  They’re not popular brand names.  They are cheap $10-$15 watches that I mostly get at a flea market.

Since I’ve been collecting these watches, I’ve been called the “Watch Doctor” by many … mostly my family and only after I told them I was the Watch Doctor.  If you say “Watch Doctor” out loud in reference to me, please pronounce it “Watch Docta”, it sounds better.

I’m not the Watch Docta just because I have a large collection of watches; it’s because I fix them too.  You see, with so many cheap, and cheaply made watches, there are always one or two needing attention.  If it’s not a battery issue, it might be the stem or the strap.  In order to fix them I need tools and I found a great little kit online.  So, if you see me with my little black bag, you’ll know I’m in “Docta” mode.

Not long ago I needed to change the battery in one of my watches.  For those of you who are laymen regarding watches, there are basically two different ways to get the back off a watch.  Some watches are the pop-off kind, and you use a special knife for that.  The other kind screws off.  There are little notches so you can apply a case opener tool to twist it off – and yes, I have that tool.

This watch had the notches so I got out my case opener for screw types and got started.  But I couldn’t get the back off. I turned the back one way and then the other way, but it would only move slightly and then tighten no matter which direction I turned.

Soon I began to get quite frustrated, and in passing, my wife Lily commented, “Why don’t you try to pop the back off?”  I gave her a look only a well-trained Watch Docta could give, as if to say “Whach you talkin’ ‘bout, fool?”  Then I kept at it.

After a while I began to get angry at the watch.  I would put the watch down for a bit and then pick it up and try again.  Nothing.  I got nowhere. Finally I got out my knife – because I didn’t care any more – and funny thing, the back of the watch just popped right off!

Those markings on the back of the watch were just decoration!  It wasn’t a screw type watch at all.

Here’s the thing:  The appearance of the watch indicated to me that I needed to take the back off a certain way.  Lily had no idea what type of watch it was.  She just threw out another possibility.  Her suggestion didn’t make sense to me because of the appearance of the watch.  But she was right.

Sometimes we get our mind set on something that we think we know about, and we don’t listen to God.  We think we don’t need His advice, that we know what to do.  But God knows better than we do.  Even when it looks like something we know, listening to God will give us the best way to proceed.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  How have you been guilty of not listening to God when you think you know the way to proceed?  Leave your comment below.