MY Thoughts are not Your Thoughts

I am ashamed to admit this. I spent the better part of a day when I should have been writing or promoting my books instead looking for "toe half socks." If you don't know what those are, join about 40 million retailers. They are half socks that only cover the toes, and are PERFECT for wearing with clogs or flats that don't rub your heel but do give you blisters on your toes.

I went from store to store to store searching. When I asked the salespeople, they looked at me as though I had two heads. I don't have two heads. I have blisters on my toes, and "toe half socks" solve that.  "Do you have any?" No. "OK. Do you know Jesus? Perhaps we could chat about that instead?"

Here's the strange thing. I prayed FERVENTLY  that morning that God would let EVERY WORD from my mouth glorify Him. Why would He make finding such a simple thing as toe half socks so impossible, thus squandering the time I could have used for His kingdom? It's not like I was hunting for the fountain of youth.

Finally, I found half toe socks after store hopping for three hours. They were not black as I would have preferred, but at least they were in the genre of what I was searching for.

"Are these comfortable?" asked the saleswoman as she checked me out. She scrutinized the toe half socks as though they were specimens in a rare bacteria laboratory. Clearly, she had never before seen them.

"Yes, very. And your store is the only one in Charlotte that sells them."
"Hmmmm.I will have to try these."
"You should. I love them."

Why? Why God, why? In all the AMAZING ways you could have used me yesterday, why was it so...pedestrian? I helped one saleswoman learn about toe socks. You have a whole world suffering and dying for the Good News...and that was my only positive contribution to humanity. And I prayed so hard to be useful.

I just finished a marathon month of editing, writing, and then publishing the sequel to my first horse book. Truth be told, while I had settled down yesterday and worked for an hour or so on book #3 in the series, I was worn out. My creative juices were dry. Suddenly, the need for half toe socks was all-consuming. I could not write another word. I must have toe socks. Now.

So I got out in the fresh air, I chatted with many wonderful sales people who invariably chuckled as I divulged the object of my quest. I walked a good three miles. When I returned home, I felt refreshed. Maybe I needed time away from my work for a little while. Maybe that was God's desire for me that day.

Here's the thing. God never works in the way we expect, but He never ignores our prayers. Our mission is to pray, obey, and trust. Probably in that order, but I could be wrong. Afterall, I spent half a day hunting for toe socks.

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Isaiah 55: 7-9
…7Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.…