Things that Don’t Fit
A couple of weeks ago, my beautiful bride and I found ourselves in Best Buy with the intent of finding a small television for the bedroom dresser. I'm not a big television guy. In fact, when Wendy and I married, I didn't even own a television. I didn't stay home enough to watch one. So that being said, I had no clue what televisions cost.As we walked down the aisle where the smaller screens were on display, I was amazed at the prices. $299. $329. $409. Really? For a 17-inch television? I kept walking deeper into the store, the screens (and price tags) getting slightly larger as we went. We had narrowed it down to two, when all of a sudden there she was. A big, black, beautiful 58-inch Panasonic flat-screen with WiFi, Internet-ready, HDMI connections, coffee maker, kickstart, 29-inch mower blade, and a toaster oven built inside. Okay, so maybe I embellished a little of that, but you get the picture (pun intended)."That thing won't even fit into our entertainment center!" My bride apparently was the one using common sense in this situation, as she does in many of our situations.Our mission was to find a television for the bedroom, yet here we were standing in front of the greatest of all motion picture creations. "I'm telling you, we need a smaller television. That WILL NOT fit in the entertainment center!"My eyes were fixed on images of the Crimson Tide heading toward their next National Championship. I began to see life-sized images of Andy and Barney, and playing X-Box with the kids would be taken to a whole new level. It didn't matter what we needed, all of a sudden I wanted us to have more. Bigger. Better.As we removed seats to fit the 58-inch box into the van, I somehow knew in the back of my mind that Wendy would be right—it wasn't going to fit. Those thoughts quickly evaporated as I thought about the smiles on the kids' faces when they saw this masterpiece. So now I have to make a public announcement: My wife, in her all-knowing wisdom, was correct. The television did not fit, and the entertainment center had to be taken apart to accommodate the television (which in reality is too large for our living room).Sometimes in our lives we receive direction from God to move in a certain area of our lives. We get the "go ahead" to move or to take action, but instead of following His instructions and listening, we often go farther or deeper than intended. Greed and pride tend to move us faster and farther than He ever intended. I know that I'm guilty more than anyone.We walk right past what God intended for us to have, and with our eyes fixed on our own desires we suddenly have something in our lives that doesn't fit. We know all along that we're in the wrong, but ignore wisdom and common sense as we feel that we know better than He does.It's important than we don't rush God's plans for our lives and take things into our own control. "For I know the plans that I have for you...." Don't let your own desires and greed get you into a mess. God always knows more than I do.So does my wife.......