God's will vs. Our will

I had a really interesting talk with my husband the other night. We were talking about an incident where he felt he ignored God's will to do his own will instead. He was feeling regret that he "knew" it wasn't God's will for him, but he did it anyway because he wanted to so badly. Surprise, surprise, the situation didn't turn out to be the success he had wanted it to be and he was left humbled.

Hasn't this happened to all of us at some time or another? We try to do things the way *we* want them to go, then get a dose of humility when we realize it would have been so much better (and easier) if we just trusted Heavenly Father's will for us. He said to me that if we're going with what Heavenly Father wants us to do, it won't guarantee that it will be successful or that we won't still have trials, but at least we can feel peace. We will know that trial was part of His plan for us, not just a self-inflicted wound. I think that's the difference. When we do things our own way and they don't work out, we don't feel peace, we feel anxiety and anguish.

Then he told me an analogy I thought was great. He said if we look at life like we're driving along in a car, we don't want to be too controlling of our life, gripping the wheel with both hands and not allowing room for God's hand on the wheel. But we also don't want to put our hands behind our head and let Him take total control of the wheel. Then we're not doing our part. We need to give Him input on where we would like to go and how we can get there. Our relationship with Him in our lives should be an active one. We have one hand on the wheel and He has one hand on the wheel, driving the car together.

With 5 kids, I've had a variety of personality types. I have a few kids who want me to do everything for them. Everything. When they were little, it was painful to teach them to buckle their own seat belt or dress themselves because they just wanted to sit back and have me do it all. Then I have had the other type that wants to do everything themselves and gets upset if I try to help them at all. This can get frustrating in situations where I know they don't have the skills capable to do it all or when we're in a huge hurry and I need to quickly take the reins for a minute. I do have one child who likes to do things for herself, yet accepts it when I say she needs to listen to me or let me take care of something. It's perfect and causes me the least amount of stress.

I think working actively with our Heavenly Father to drive our life will take out a lot of our stress. I have experienced more stress lately than is necessary. Why? Because I have had both hands gripped tightly on the wheel without asking for His help or allowing His help. After talking with my husband, I know what I need to do. If I have Him help me in all my endeavors, I will have much more peace. Which is something I could use more of right now.