the mansion, prayer story #4

Our community has been praying over the last couple of years for a dream of good friends of ours to come true. In short their dream involves buying a mansion with a partner to provide affordable housing and community living. Over the last few months the dream has gotten really close to being realized, but there's a wrench in the spokes.... the home owner. Now we all realize that he is indeed not a wrench, but that God could be using this relationship to show him Jesus. The fact of the matter is that he is a man, and he does have free will. His free will is no greater or lesser than mine or yours. I've never known God to step in and take that away. Yes, He can change someone’s heart, and maybe persuade. Not to say that He couldn't over through free will, but it's my understanding that He values that more. I guess most people don't want to hear that their choice had a profound affect on more people than just themselves, but it does. Our choices are what this life is all about. God wants us to choose Jesus as our first love, but He will not force us into that relationship. There is a good book on that subject that my mentor in the states gave to me when I left for here, it's called The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis. It took me awhile to get through as I've got a bit of an aversion to christianise, but once I got over that I found it so powerful.

I've got to run off to work so let me sum up...

The mansion has fallen through (for now). I don't blame God and wonder what the hell He's doing because the way I look at it there is a man involved who has free will and has made some choices that don't really have much to do with God at all. God has many a plan, and will show us a new one in time if it's time to go to plan B. He will guide us (as long as we will listen) and love us through all the grieving over a dream that would seem to be lost. And then at the last hour will reveal a plan bigger than we could have ever dreamed or hoped for...