Are You Done Now?

God is merciful. He allows us free will. One way you can see his mercy is the fact that The Lord does not say "Are you done now?" when you are off the rails.

Now "off the rails" can be a great many things, like:

• Straight up sinning
• Being irresponsible
• Playing the victim
• Holding pity parties
• Self-sabotaging
• Running from your problems, or your calling
• Refusing to take advice
• Choosing to avoid the open doors to escape bad things
• Throwing a temper tantrum
• etc

I am personally thankful in this area. While I have not "run from my calling", I have certainly been on a personal journey of healing and growth, that I have realized was a requirement for my calling. And sometimes I have wondered if I was "running from my calling" or "being irresponsible".

But this is where God Plays Chess Backwards.

You see He knows how you're wired. Where you are at in life mentally, financially, physically, emotionally. And he can plan for your "delays" and "irresponsibility" and just build that into the plan. So while you might not be experiencing momentum or progress, He is playing chess backwards. It's still progress, just in other areas of your life where you need to grow.

God is cool enough that he can grow you in those areas, while you are not making progress in your calling. Much like you can work out your legs, while your shoulder is injured and needs to heal preventing you from doing upper body workouts.

God doesn't ever say "are you done now?", because he already knows the answer. And he loves us enough to now be condescending with us. But instead he has authority over all creation. He doesn't need to be "I told you so". He doesn't need to be snide. He doesn't need to assert himself.

He is Holy and perfect.

And He loves you, regardless of how long or fast you have run from Him or your calling.