I Hate To Quote Garth Brooks

I had a short but interesting conversation the other day with two friends while we were in a mall food court, of all places. The gist of it was that God has really saved us from ourselves more times than we probably even realize. But we were all able to quickly bring to mind past situations and relationships that we were so sure of at the time-- and yet in retrospect were the last thing we needed.

And it's such an obvious thing for someone who has faith-- but for some reason, I've never spent a lot of time thinking about the fact that I have a God who knows me far, far better than I know myself. I think maybe it is because I pride myself on being rather aware (for lack of a better word) of my own thoughts and feelings and the motivations behind what I do and say. I like to think I can anticipate most eventualities....but the fact is, I can't.

That's what this conversation brought home to me. There have been times in my life where I could have told you without a doubt what I wanted, what I needed. But, to paraphrase a dear friend, I was an idiot. Thankfully, God was there protecting me from myself.

But it makes me wonder-- was there a still, soft voice I was ignoring? Was there a niggling at my heart that I just refused to acknowledge? I think there have been times where I've heard that voice and let it guide me. But how many times have I ignored it because it wasn't what my heart wanted me to hear? How much pain and confusion could have been avoided?

I've always been someone who tried to follow my heart. But I've realized that there's no point in following your heart unless you've given it over to the One that created it.