The other day, I took out a loaf of bread and prepped the counter to make some toast. I was wanting some with the new jam we bought, and nothing sounded better to my taste buds. As I attempted the take off the twist tie to get some bread out, I found myself getting frustrated. The tie wasn't coming off and I couldn't figure out why. I had to re exam it carefully and figure out which way I needed to turn it. After that happened, it still wasn't coming off or even becoming loose. I stared at the twistie for while, and then realized, that I was twisting the tie so quickly, that even once I had reached the point of opening, I kept going and then had re-twisted the darn thing, in the complete other direction. It was so deceiving to me! I hadn't even realized my error and was surprised at how careful I needed to be. The tie can even look like it's going one way, when it really is going the other and then your twisting is all in vain.
The point of all this, is while I was examining the twist tie, I started to compare it to the way I feel about my life sometimes. Heavenly Father has given us our lives (our own twist ties) and we are the ones, with our agency, that are ultimately in control of what direction we take our lives. With proper and righteous instruction, we know exactly how to work our own twist ties of lives. But when the tie looks deceiving, we need to pray to the Lord to ask for help in which direction to go, so we might have that opening to get to where we want and need to.
Sometimes I am as tangled up and frustrated with my own "twist tie" of a life. I find myself thinking I'm going in the right direction, only to find out I hadn't been all along. Other times, I know right where I'm going, but I am flying on full speed, that I pass the point of understanding and then end up twisted all over again. This can happen to me while I am trying to make a decision, or decipher between right and wrong, use my agency to it's fullest or just live life...hoping that it's all going in the right direction.
I then find myself having to really take the time to exam myself and the path I'm on. Am I really trying hard enough to do what I need to? Am I taking full advantage of my agency and keeping the Lord involved? Am I moving at too fast a pace, that I don't realize anymore where I'm even going? Or am I going too slow...and letting things pass idly by me?
Just like how we might stare at a twist tie, and feel so confused about if we are untying it the right direction or not, the same is the way we may feel about our lives. We may think we have control, or know right away where to turn and spin. We may feel lost from the beginning, or know exactly where we are going and then miss the main point. All I know, is that I fall down on my knees when I get caught up in any of those moments, and pray to my Heavenly Father, that He will take some control. I pray that He will take one end of the tie, and that I will take the other. I then wait, hope, trust and believe that in accordance to my faith and hard work, the Lord will work with me and then show me in which direction to go, how fast to move and comfort me when I feel lost.
I am grateful for the opportunities I have to struggle. All those moments and all those trials take me right back to the the Lord. I'm grateful for when I'm successful! I love the freedom, the happiness and the strength I feel when I am turning my own twist tie the right direction and I do mostly everything right-hand in hand with the Lord, to get to where I need and want to be.
So here is to another week of careful examination; going at the right pace and working with the Lord to turn me in the right direction! :)
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