Trial and ERROR

Things I've learned this week at work:

When things are done by trial and error, error is likely to occur

Errors are no fun, especially when the error has a large effect on others

Errors are especially no fun when they create problems you have no clue how to correct

Errors will make you more hesitant to try things in case the error happens again

But . . . if you are doing something new and there is no on who can tell you how to do it, the only possible way to do it is by trial and error.

Buttons that are available in a system and then create such errors should not be able to be accessed.

Trial does produce a lot of good results

Are the good results produced by the trial worth the catastrophes started by the error? That I have yet to learn.

There is not much time left for either trial or error in my last project here at work. I am doing a data conversion from one inventory system to another and have only two more days to finish this project before it goes live. From my perspective right now it seems very risky. However, the time frame is set since I soon will be done with work here and move to Ohio.

I pray that the errors I've accidentally created can be corrected and that my growing list of items that have to be done before the conversion is finished enough so that this conversion is a success.

Prayer and Feelings

I read a blog article yesterday about prayer that was still on my mind this morning. Here's the part that I remembered most:

"Feelings precede out of faith, they don't produce it. Likewise in prayer; if we look to our feelings to tell us whether our prayers are heard/effective, etc. - we are looking to the storm and not the Savior." (click here for the entire blog article)

It's a good reminder to keep praying even if it seems pointless at times. We must remember that God does hear and answer prayer!

Great Sunday

Today was a great day! Great is just not descriptive enough. I was smiling just now driving back from church. I can't explain all the resons now, but it was good in many ways. We were able to hear from many people in the morning service how God was a work in their two weeks in Peru. We heard how he answered specific prayers that were prayed and fresh realizations many had of what's truly important in this life.

I was able to eat lunch with my family then spent an hour or so reading Hudson Taylor and Maria (I found some more interesting quotes that I hope to type in here sometime). I uploaded the video I put together before church this morning to both youtube and godtube. I've been wanting to start puting church videos online for some time and am glad to have finally done uploaded the first one. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload some more Peru videos in the near future.

While in the middle of uploading the video, twelve-year-old Toy from across the street came over to ask if I would play capture the flag with them. I thought, why not - I've been sitting around all day. We ended up playing kick-ball instead and after an hour were so hot and sweaty that we had to stop. After a stop at McDonalds for a McFlurry with my neighbors family and another neat new family from church, we went to the night service. After the service, I was able to talk with some people that I've been meaning to speak with for some time. I had an idea and found that what I decided to do while not knowing if it was a good idea or a God idea was a direct answer to someone's prayer. That was fun! I guess God can use each of his clay pots in the most unusual ways - PTL!

Hudson Taylor and Maria

I am just about always in the middle of reading a book. It seems I have to read at least a few pages of either a book or a World Magazine before I go to sleep at night. My mom is always supplying me with books to read - usually faster than I can finish them. Right now I'm reading a book called Hudson Taylor and Maria, Pioneers in China by J.C. Pollock. I've not yet finished the book, but just wanted to write down these quotes before I forgot about them (or my book marks came out).

" The C.E.S. [Chinese Evangelization Society] was in debt. Taylor believed no Christian, certainly no Christian mission, should live and work on borrowed money. "To me it seemed that the teaching of God's Word was unmistakeabley clear: 'Owe no man any thing.' To borrow money implied, to my mind, a contradiction of Scripture-a confession that God had withheld some good thing, and a determination to get for ourselves what he had not given." although deep in debt the C.E.S sent the Johnes, with four small children, to China, and sent them so ill-provided that to get to Ningpo they had to depend on the missionaries at Shanghai, which rocked at the scandel." [page 75]

"Maria Dyer, she of the squint, wrote to her student brother Samuel in London concerning these autumn days: "I met a gentleman and, I cannot say I loved him at once, but I felt interested in him and could not forget him. I saw him from time to time and still this interest continued. I had no good reason to think it was reciprocated, he was very unobrusive and never made any advances." She said she was led to take the matter at once to God" [page 81]

"Maria prayed secretly that "if it was God's will, if it was not wrong, we might have an interview." She was tempted to concort an encounter "but I preferred that it should be of God's over-ruling and not of my arranging" [page 87-88]

Interpretation of Events

When I pray for something specifically and then something in the realm of my prayer occurs, I take note. Sometimes the event that occured should not be taken as an answer to prayer but may indeed be a temptation or just an event to remember and look back upon.

Let me give an example. Over a year ago, while walking one morning I was praying and asking God if He could and would provide me with a husband. I knew that God can do all things, I just wasn't sure that he would or if that was something that he was concerned about for me personally.

Well fast forward about two days. I was at work and a friendly guy, who I didn't really know more than surface work stuff about, asked me if I would go out with him. I completely didn't see that one coming, and was quite rude by responding with the first thing that came to mind which went something like "aren't you a lot older than me?". The rest of the conversation was awkward as I told him no.

Now, as humans it would be easy to take the two events which happened in close proximaty to one another and interpret them into divine guidance that this is the man that I am to marry. It's tempting to do so and so easy in many areas to misinterpret God's will. In the case of being asked out by that guy it wasn't really hard to decide. Although he was nice and friendly, he was older than I, he alreay had children (whether from previous marriage or girlfriends I don't know), I don't know if he's a Christian, and our standards are different. He was not really the kind of guy I want to marry.

My non-inspired interpretation of that event is that God wanted to show me that he can indeed act at any time and in unexpected ways, that he does care for me personally, and that he is not bound by the circumstances of my life. It's almost more that he was reaching down and showing me that he can give me what I ask for, but it's probably not really what I wanted. (I need to be more specific in my prayers I guess!)

But in other situations, other prayers and other times the same question arrises. How is one to know the proper interpretation of what occurs in areas where you pray and something unexpected happens. When a circumstance occurs that answers a prayer in a way that you either want or that doesn't contradict biblical standards, how much should one attribute that circumstance to being an answer straight from God? Am I so warrry of turning a circumstance that God intended to test me or to show me his presence into an absolute guidance by God's hand that I miss his direction? There is a feeling a peace that He gives when one makes a decision that makes you think that it is of God. I wish (like many others I'm sure) that God did audibly speak or write us personalized emails when we pray to tell us what he plans or if a situation is an answer to a prayer. In fact, the emails would be best because then you could print them out and have them for a reference! However, for the time being, I must just trust God's character, rest in confidence of His direction and continue to pray for His guidance and thank God for his providence.

(Side note on providence as defined in Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #11: What are God's works of providence? God's works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing of all his creatures and all their actions.)