If I were God, and I wanted to get my message to the people I’ve created, I certainly wouldn’t put my best men in prison for years, mistreat them, put them through hurdles, and even kill my best man on the job.
But that’s exactly what God did with Elijah, Moses, Abraham, David, Paul, Peter, John, and of course, Jesus.
“I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” – Jeremiah 10:23 ESV 
That’s an understatement.
It is my experience that God leads and directs in mysterious ways.
The things I most pray for don’t come to fruition in the way I ask.
In fact, oftentimes God keeps me waiting or answers me in opposite ways.
And his answers can be risky and perplexing. They make me ask what God is up to.
They also produce fear in me, and then I realize I can’t fix the outcome, and then I am forced to trust him.
I am no longer in control.
Martin Luther experienced the same thing.
“We need to learn how God guides his people as they grow and develop. I too have often tried to dictate to our Lord God a certain way in which I expect him to run things. I have often said, ‘O Lord, would you please do it this way and make it come out that way?’ But God did just the opposite, even though I said to myself, ‘This is a good suggestion that will bring honor to God and expand his kingdom.’ Undoubtedly, God must have laughed at my so-called wisdom and said, ‘All right, I know that you are an intelligent, educated person, but I never needed a Peter, a Luther, or anyone else to teach, inform, rule, or guide me. I am not a God who will allow himself to be taught or directed by others. Rather, I am the one who leads, rules, and teaches people.'”
I am reminded that since God is taking care of every detail of the universe, surely he will take care of me.
I am learning to rest in that truth.
Messy Christians 