Saturday, December 09, 2006

Expectations Exceeded

"If I do not ask God for things, if I rather ask for direction and strength and I focus on what I am putting into life rather than on what I am getting out of it, then God gives to me things that are better than anything I would have thought to ask for."

That was given to me by a man named John C. many years ago, and I have to tell you it has proven to be absolutely consistent with my experience.

When I started on this journey into sobriety I didn’t know what to expect. What it has given me has not only exceeded whatever expectations I might have had, it has given me things I would never have thought to want, would never have known were desirable.

When I was a kid I always wanted an electric train, and one Christmas my dad gave me a locomotive kit. Not the electric train I wanted, but a kit to be built. I was actually disappointed that I couldn’t put it on the track and run it but it helped when he said he would help me build the kit.

Fifty years later, though no longer active in model railroading, I still have that locomotive that my dad helped me with, the first model that I ever built. It is a treasure that I will not part with. And I still have a passion for building models: trains, cars, ships, planes…

Dad knew me, you see. He heard what I said, but he knew what would really work for me and he provided it. It turned out to be a better gift than what I had asked for.

If we focus on our wants we often live lives of frustration and disappointment. When we "take charge" and get what we want, we may have gotten in the way of God providing us with something that would have served us better. When we let go God tends to provide us with what really works for us rather than what we think we want.

"..God gives to me things that are better than anything I would have thought to ask for."

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