last resort

It’s happened to me more than once: after some tale of woe in which I describe a mistake or a wrong turn or a lesson learned, someone says, “I could have told you that.” And I’d guess they’re right. Someone else already knows everything I need to learn, if I just knew who to ask.

That’s a truth that I should apply to my relationship with God. In matters of life, I already know who can advise me, but I never ask him. I’m kind of like kings Joram and Jehoshaphat in the story in 2 Kings 3. On their way to make war against Moab, they ask each other the best way to go and decide to traverse the desert. A week later, they’re out of water and in deep trouble, and that’s when they come to their senses, as described in 2 Kings 3:11: “But Jehoshaphat asked, ‘Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?’”

It begs the question, why wait until things look bad to ask God? Once they did, God helped them avoid death by dehydration, and then helped them defeat their enemies.

Why is God so often my last resort? Why do I first try things on my own, then go to my friends for advice, then look it up on the Internet and then, when all else fails, pray? Wouldn’t it be far easier to pray as I make my plans instead after they’ve gone off the rails?

It’s something I intend to do better at.