I'm currently in quite a transitional phase. I recently found a condo in West Little Rock I liked and decided to make an offer on it. Immediately after viewing the place, I told my realtor I'd meet her 3 hours later to make an offer. The first person I called after that was my dad.
After my long spill about everything the condo had, why I'd decided on getting it, when I could move in, etc., my dad suggested I take a day or two to pray about this decision (I'd left out the part about me making an offer in 3 hours).
My only problem with that was the fear that someone else might beat me at making an offer. That my procrastination, my hesistation could cause me to lose the condo. "Daniel, I don't want to sway you one way or the other," Dad said. "But if you take some time to pray about it and someone else buys it, you can take that as confirmation that this isn't the place you should be."
While this seems simple enough to comprehend, I still struggled with taking this advice. I believed whole-heartedly that God COULD keep the condo open for me over the next 2 days. But I couldn't help but think that the decision of where I ended up living next was a rather small detail. Surely this choice wasn't important enough to include prayer. Why would I want to wait any longer since I thought I could afford it, liked the neighborhood, and wanted to be living there? To me, it seemed like a common-sense decision, with no mystery for prayer to solve. What good would praying about it do at this point?
I told my dad I appreciated his advice and would keep him posted on the progress of this decision/purchase. Later that night, I pondered over my dad's words. Why was I resistant to praying about such a major decision? I supposed it was because I tend to seperate financial decisions from spiritual ones. Why was my dad so adament about me waiting and praying before I decided to buy this place? I figured it was because he wanted me to be smart with my money. He wanted me to be living in a place I felt happy with, safe in, and confident that I could afford to make payments on.
Because he's my dad, and he wanted nothing less than the best for me.
Hmmm...maybe praying to a God whose story of abounding love and provision as old as time itself wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe He didn't want anything less than the best for me either.
I went ahead and made an offer on the condo...two days later, after asking God to give me wisdom. To use that wisdom to lead me to a wise decision. To bless the decision I would ultimately make.
Whatever happens with the condo, I still believe it to be minor in the grand scheme of things. But I most certainly trust in a loving Heavenly Father who wants to bless His children, whether they are in a life of poverty or fortune.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on our own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight"
-Proverbs 3:5-6
