I have often wondered about decisions that were entered into slowly and prayerfully but still do not seem to work out. Reed and I had many friends at Bible college who got married after knowing each other well, praying for direction, having premarital counseling, and with their family's approval. A few years later we found out many of them had divorced. We had taken those same steps, so I had to wonder why it didn't work? What did they do wrong? Would that happen to us?
And then there were friends from our church, seemingly, a happily married couple. He was offered a new job. He and his wife prayed about it, went out of state to interview with the owner, felt that it was definitely God's will. A few months later, he had an affair with a coworker and divorced his wife. Obviously infidelity was not a job requirement, but why would God direct them to take a job that would destroy their marriage?
Then there is the missionary couple who, at God's direction, adopted a baby while they were on the mission field, raised him with their children. He loved the Lord and served him as a child, but when he grew up, he walked away from his family and his God and has fallen into all kinds of sin. We all know, or have lived, similar stories. Health, businesses, and churches fail. People who are loved and very much needed die. Prayers seem to go unanswered. What happened?
These events are not the end of the story. The couples who divorced moved on, some remarried, some prodigals came back to the Lord, some are still coming. People regain their health or income, people find other churches. God comforts the grieving. But these events still make us feel vulnerable. What good does it do to follow God's direction if it still leads to a bad road? The only answer I can find is that this life is not the one with guarantees. Heaven is where we are promised no pain, no sorrow, no tears. And even if God's direction doesn't lead where we want it to, it is still the best map we have to work with.
So we read God's Word, pray, seek wise counsel, look for confirming circumstances, and make the best decisions we can. Because wanting everything to go right will keep us from doing anything at all, and that is not an option.
