Oh, Well

            Well, as the old song says, you can’t always get what you want.

            As many of you know, the Gettysburg church voted a few weeks ago to accept an offer to buy the Christian education building.  Last week, we heard from the buyer, and it decided to cancel the contract.

            The buyer had every right to do that, and we’re not mad at them, but it’s still disappointing.  We had thought selling that building and building a new addition onto the church would be a good thing for us, and now we have to change our plans.

            One of the surprising things to me, though, was my own personal reaction when I heard the news.  I’d have thought I might be upset, even angry.  In fact, I wasn’t.  My reaction was just, “Oh, well.  That’s the way it goes.  I guess we’ll just have to make a new plan now.”

            I think this is a positive thing for me.  I don’t think my reaction would have been that calm a few years ago.  I think, or at least I hope, that it means I am able to trust God more than I used to be able to do.  I have confidence that God will help us make a different plan, and that things will ultimately work out for the best.

            I’m not sure why this has happened.  Maybe it’s just that I’ve had so many times in my life when I didn’t get what I wanted, only to find out later that God had something better in mind for me.  Maybe it’s just that I’ve had a lot of times when God has come through for me, and so am more confident that I used to be that God will do so again.

            This is not to criticize you if you had a stronger reaction, nor is to say that your trust in God is less than mine.  We’re all different, and our emotions come out in different ways.  It’s also not to say that I can now accept everything this calmly.  Should I learn, say, that I or someone I love had a serious health problem, I don’t know that my reaction would be “Oh, well.”

            Still, I think it’s a good sign.  I think it’s a sign that my faith in God is stronger than it used to be.  I hope yours is, too.  After all, God promises to never leave us or forsake us.  If nothing else, I hope we can learn to trust God to keep that promise.