He Maketh No Mistake

It is so easy to try to control life and think you know what’s best. At least that is how I am. I can very easily start to worry too much or analyze everything or start to simply do whatever I want before praying about it. This is especially the case when there are situations in life that I want an answer to now; when situations in life start to seem too big to handle, I just try to think it through and worry the situation down to death. It’s almost as if I think worrying and carrying the burden of possible what ifs and planning out any complicated conversation or event is easier than just releasing it to the God who knows more about it than I do anyway. I know this is not true. Believe me, carrying burdens on your own is hard, and you can only do it for so long.

Why then do we worry when we know God is in control? God does not make mistakes, and I believe that He has each of us where He wants us. He knows what He is doing, so why don’t we just trust? Even though we each have pasts that prove that God really did know best, that is still not enough for us. I would never in a million years guess I would be in the situations and circumstances that I am in now. Never, ever. In fact, my friends and I were just talking about the crazy paths God led us through to get to where we are now. Not the road any of us would have perhaps chosen to take, but He knew what He was doing. He did not make a mistake.

The night before I was going into sixth grade, I suddenly became a little nervous about entering into this new school without being able to go to school with my mom or sister anymore. I remember walking down to talk to my mom that night and expressing my concerns with her. She pulled out this journal that she had since she was a student here at Huntington. Inside it was filled with quotes she had collected. She pulled out a poem and told me that God is not going to lead me astray and that I don’t have any reason to be worried about my future as a sixth grader (looking back I obviously think that entering sixth grade should never be a big deal, but at the time, it was). The poem is called “He Maketh No Mistake.” I will never forget the poem and that night. I keep that poem with me and read it whenever I need a reminder that I am not in control, He is. Because sometimes in the midst of a winding road or potholes of confusion or doubt, or when all logic tells you to give up, we need to be reminded that He is leading us. And sometimes, going through the potholes and the rough roads lead us to a most beautiful sight, but we would never make it to that sight or notice its true beauty if we didn’t hit those potholes first.
Here is the poem:

“My Father’s way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I’m glad I know,
He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.

Tho’ night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break;
I’ll pin my faith, my all in Him
He maketh no mistake.

There’s so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight’s far too dim,
But come what may, I’ll simply trust
And leave it all to Him

For by and by the mist will lift
And plain the way He’ll make,
Through all the way, the dark to see
He made not one mistake!”

That next morning when I awoke to get on the bus for the first time and go to this new school, the fear was not necessarily gone, but I remember feeling like this was right. I remember waving goodbye to my mom when I got on the bus and feeling like a tear was going to come out of my eye. I looked up in the window and a sticker that said “Guardian” was on it. As soon as I read that I knew that God was with me there and He was my guardian. Of course, the sticker was of the company who made the bus, but still, it was the most comforting sign for me. Sometimes I wish I could have as much faith as I did when I was just ten years old.

To go along with that, one of the greatest things about my life is that I have great friends. A few weeks ago a bunch of us were doing homework and talking and spending much needed girl time together. As I began to update them on the happenings of my life and expressing the worries about decisions and changes that were coming to me, Chelsey interrupted and looked at me and said, “Erica, how much are you trusting God right now?” I paused and then said, “I guess I really am not trusting God.” And then she looked at me, smiled and said, “God is good.” And as soon as I began to wonder again or doubt she gave me those same words. She is right. Trusting God means not asking questions or worrying. Then she told me that I needed to be praying seriously about this. I told her and the rest of my friends that I had been, and once again Chelsey stopped and said, “No. When this happened to me I went off several times a week and spent tons of time praying and listening to God about this.” And it hit me again. Trusting God does not mean doing nothing. It means praying and listening. And some things in life are just too big and too important to just be a bedtime prayer; sometimes they need those hours spent alone with God.

Thanks, Chels.

So, I ask you that if you happen to think of me anytime this week to pray for me and the changes occurring in my life. Beautiful, though they are, they still will require prayers. And of course to continue to remember that wherever you are in life, God does not make a mistake and where you are now is where you are supposed to be.