Twenty Moves Ahead

Recently on a news program they were interviewing scientists about the possibility of an asteroid hitting the Earth.  At one point the interviewer asked, what if they found a large asteroid a few weeks away from hitting the Earth on a collision course, what would we do?  The astronomer's was, "Pray."  His opinion was that if it was that close, it would be too late to do anything, but if we saw it coming 20 year away, we could give it a little nudge.  Just running something into it would slow it a bit and over 20 years it would make the difference, but it would take time.

How often are there things in life like the asteroid?  If we were to make small changes long ago, we would be in a better position today.  Health issues are like this, finances. relationships... what else.  Some of these are predictable, and others we never see coming.

Life really isn't so much like the asteroid as a Rube Goldberg device.  Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist that drew overly complicated machines to do a simple purpose.  One thing leads to another to another.  Much like the kids game Mouse Trap.

Comparing life to either the asteroid or the Rube Goldberg device is misleading because there is not a single task to complete.  There are multiple interlocking outcomes to achieve.  I want my son to grow up to be a healthy, responsible adult, and I want a healthy marriage, and have a successful career and and and and and.    There is no way for me to see all the moves, all of the possibilities, all of the asteroids.  

Luckily God's got my back.  What seems impossible for me is all in God's plan an he sees more than a few moves ahead.

God has the long view and sees the potential pitfalls and problems long before we do.  We just need to be in a position to listen to the plan and follow His will for us.