And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Col. 3:15 ESV

Dreams are straight, but life is crooked.

Life is full of left turns. None of us find ourselves exactly where we dreamed we might be; perhaps not where we worked hard to be. We were born into a family we did not choose. Necessity may have kept us from the school of our choice or moved us into a trade, not of our choosing. We fall in love with someone we could never have imagined. We have children, all of whom are surprises. We lose our youth and grow old though wishing to stay young.

Anyone past mid-life can tell that story. Life is full of left-hand turns. How does that happen to a child of God? How are we to respond to change and forfeited dreams? Why is life so crooked?

If there were a Bible character who experienced lots of left-hand turns in life, it was Paul. He had planned and schemed to take Christians captive all over the Roman empire and then the Lord arrested him on the road to Damascus. What a turn! Perhaps Paul had dreamt of becoming a revered Rabbi, of a comfortable living in Jerusalem with the respect of everyone who mattered. But, no, God had entirely different plans. What was Paul’s response to all this change in his life?

Thanksgiving!

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service.

1 Tim. 1:12 ESV

And that should also be the impulse of our heart when God in His providence and wisdom changes the direction of our lives in unexpected (and sometimes uncomfortable) ways.

Join me in practicing thanksgiving as my first response to God’s left-hand turns!