Good Guess...Wrong Answer

"Good guess!...Wrong answer!"

I don't know how many times I heard this come out of my 7th grade science teacher's mouth. He was a very encouraging man, and someone that we all could trust. He was also one of the few Christian men that I knew that was the real deal. And he, by God's happy coincidence, was also my youth pastor. Richard McGovert and his wife, Donna, were my first mentors. And they were just the right people to plant seeds of truth inside a tiny, scared, and insecure 12 year old. (me, if you didn't guess that one.)

Often during science class Mr. McGovert (as we called him at school) would ask us tough questions and we were never scared to try an answer. Because if we got it right then we were right. If we got it wrong we would hear, "Good guess, wrong answer." Then he would use it as an opportunity to teach us and encourage us at the same time. In his living room, McGoo (as we called him during youth gatherings) would also ask us the tough questions. Sometimes we would get it right, sometimes we would hear, "Good guess, wrong answer." Always, though, he was encouraging.

Sometimes I think I hear God whispering in my ear, "Good guess...wrong answer." Often this is when I am expecting one thing but get something else. A different response, a different attitude, a different anything than what I was expecting. And sure enough disappointment sets in. Discouragement settles into my heart. Frustrations rise at unmet expectations. Surely what I wanted was the right thing. Surely God would side with me on this one... But alas, no. I hear, "Good guess, wrong answer," whispered in my heart.

And then, yesterday He expounded on this simple thought. In that still soft whisper in the deepest part of my heart I heard, "Just do what I tell you to do, and I will take care of the rest." All God wants from me is me. He isn't worried about things not going the way I planned, even if my plan aligns with His word. See, all He wants from me is to do what He asks me to do, and He will take care of the rest. God doesn't disappoint, and he never gets the wrong answer!

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.