Thought of the Day 08.21.09

I took my boys camping last weekend, and they totally loved it. Playing with fire. Killing ants. Hiking in the woods. Burning marshmallows. You know, camping.

At one point, I had some rope laying around, and Spencer asked me if he could play with it. As I watched him try a variety of things with the rope, I observed him unintentionally tying it in knots and then getting frustrated that they were so difficult to undo. My impulse was to interfere and caution him against doing that. But I immediately realized that making knots you struggle to undo is a vital part of the process of learning about rope.

More importantly, I knew that there was no knot he could put into the rope that I couldn’t later remedy myself. And I figured when he came to me for my help, he would be impressed by my skill and also grateful for it, both of which turned out to be correct.

Now, I don’t pretend to know all the reasons God allows us so much freedom to tangle up our lives, but I do know there’s no knot we can tie that He isn’t capable of unkinking if we ask Him.