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Formulas, Secret Recipes and a Game of Chess

Posted by Hannah Etsebeth | Posted in faith, Musings | Posted on 11-02-2010

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strategyBrace yourself because I am about to blast a very, very secret recipe across the world wide web for the first time ever in history. My friend and I created it when we were little… The name?  Friendship Blue.  For obvious reasons: We were friends and it was blue.

RECIPE: Water, sugar (lots of it), mint leaves (from the backyard) and blue food coloring.  Delicious.

We tried our best to only use these special ingredients in each batch of Friendship Blue (wouldn’t want to mess up this killer recipe with unknown variables), but if we had to substitute something, we could make that work as well.  These days Friendship Blue has become a bit too elementary for me. In fact, my formulas have gotten a lot more complicated… in everything.

The Problem with Formulas

Well, they kind of don’t work… and that sucks.  Here’s what I mean:

  • Job: You are trained and qualified for a job + the job is a perfect fit = they’ll hire you.  Nope. Not always the case.
  • Relationship Formula (one of many): She thinks he’s cute + he thinks she’s cute = they’ll date.  Nope. Not always the case.
  • Calling/ Purpose: You feel you are supposed to go into ministry + you are following after God and active in community at church = you’ll begin full-time ministry right away. Nope. Not always the case.

Beyond the Formula

Greater than the ability to work a formula is the ability to look at all of the variables and create something far better.  God works beyond our formulas.  He sees the variables we don’t see. He is the greatest strategist, understanding how each piece effects the other. He understands the story beneath the story.

I’m not sure about you, but I am horrible at knowing “the right time to say the right thing, do the right thing, or be the right kind of person.”  All I can do is live and trust God with the variables.  Because in all honesty, I am usually clueless anyway.

Psalm 20:7-8

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

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