I was driving home from work one day, and felt confident that God was asking me to buy a lottery ticket. I didn’t feel as though it was a command. It seemed more like a suggestion. Being ever curious, I pulled off at the next exit and purchased a $1 scratch ticket. To my surprise, I won $1. I marveled at the ‘chances’. While walking towards my car, I considered buying a second ticket. I walked back into the store and purchased one more $1 scratcher. This one yielded no financial gain. As I walked to my car, $1 poorer, I asked God why he suggested I pull off the road. He spoke to me clearly, “I wanted to remind you that I can and will provide for you when it is needed.”
My wife and I both recently took heavy pay cuts to move to Virginia. Most people assume that the cost of living difference is substantial enough to compensate for our lost wages. It isn’t. I suppose we were both left better jobs than we realized at the time. Conventional wisdom would dictate that we stay where the money is. Post-move, that same wisdom would declare our decision a mistake, a worthy candidate for regret. Conventional wisdom would then be wrong. We followed the voice of the Lord. He wanted us out here. Since we’ve been here, I’ve visited family I haven’t seen in 10 years. I’ve spent quality time with family that has since gone on to be with Jesus. Moving out here has been the correct decision for us.
I don’t say all this to defend our decisions to you, but rather to encourage you to loosen your reliance on conventional wisdom. Not everything that looks good is good. Not everything that looks bad is bad. God uses circumstances in our lives to bring about His will, whether it is a lottery ticket, or a cross-country move. He doesn’t always make sense to us, but it is always worth the investment.
-Ryan Lytton
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