This story is about the first time someone recommended Rick's Service Center to me. His place was a very easy place for me to travel to. I was elated. I called him and was very impressed with his confidence that he could help me. In addition, he told me he charged $70 an hour, not the usual $99 an hour which other major repair centers charge.

I made an appointment for 9:00 AM Monday morning. He thought it might take two days to get my motor home in shape. I knew that would be no problem, since we still had our old pullable RV which we were trying to sell, and we could stay in it while the other one was being repaired.

Of course I wanted to go to God on this. Trust me when I say this was a very difficult thing to do, because things seemed to be working out well on their own. However, I have seen the appearances of everything going very well, turn sour and become disappointing in the end. I want always to do God's will, not mine. He never fails, where I routinely do. I knew I needed to prayerfully flip a coin, before God, and get permission (even though I had already made the appointment and even though I had been so relieved to not have to travel the complex highway system to get to the other service centers).

The first thing I did was release all to God and ask Him if I even needed to bother asking Him. This meant that if God says, No (tails) I could confidently just continue doing what I was already doing. I flipped and He said Yes (heads) that I must ask Him.

My heart was filled with trepidation because it was so easy finding Rick's Service Center and going to another service center was so hard for me. Because I had already invested so much of MY research, it was especially difficult to let go of it and get God's direction. In my mind, I carefully reviewed all the times I had thought my way was the perfect answer and it turned out completely wrong—even painful. It is easy to remember how our plans (even though they appear to be going completely right) can turn into something sad.

Still, the idea of casting lots by prayerfully flipping a coin only to get a No, haunted me. Why? Because I had invested so much into the answer I wanted. I got butterflies in my stomach at the idea of turning it over to God. I imagined getting a No on Rick's Service Center and the hassle of having to drive the motor home through the maze of streets to another service center. It was terrifying.

I closed my eyes and flipped the quarter onto the RV floor, my eyes tearing up, as I told God that I only wanted to trust Him and not go my own way. I opened my eyes and looked at God's answer. Heads (Yes, go to Rick's). Tears of joy flowed from my eyes as I thanked God for giving me the BEST answer, not based on my own will, but His only.

I confidently drove the RV to Rick's Service Center where I received the most courteous service, as well as very reasonable pricing. I vowed to not invest so much of my will in the future, but to rely only on God's will, early on. Of course, God could very well have steered me to Rick's in the first place, but I'm not able to recognize God's will, as opposed to mine, all the time. Once I had prayerfully flipped a coin before Him, I was confident at last.

Eva, too, had to make a decision with regard to her carpel tunnel problem. She had already made the plans, had the surgical appointment, scheduled time off from work—everything was in place to have it done. Then, rather belatedly, she wanted God's approval. She, too, felt a hunger to do God's will and not her own with regard to this—even though so much was already in place. She could not imagine having surgery without God's approval. She, too, imagined what it would be like if God said No. Going back to work without the surgery, trying to explain it all to everyone, canceling the surgery and dealing with the problems associated with that. But Eva felt strongly she wanted God's approval. We were visiting a local park when Eva felt she wanted to do God's will in this. Feeling nervous for her, I asked God if it was even necessary to ask. I flipped the coin, hoping, for her sake, that it was not necessary to ask and things could continue as we had planned. God said, through the coin toss, "Yes, please ask Me.” When we have invested so much time and energy into OUR plans, I felt God wanted us to REALLY know it was Him we wanted to follow so He made it very definite by having us ask Him directly. I handed Eva a quarter so she could ask and prayerfully flip the coin before God herself.

She, too, remembered how often our decisions and plans are inadvertently incorrect. She took the quarter and asked God, “Is it Your will that I have this surgery?”

Her eyes, too, teared up as she released the coin, allowing it to rest in the grass. Heads. God had given permission to have the surgery. Joyous tears flowed from her eyes also.

The surgery went smoothly. A friend of ours called me while she was still coming out of the surgery and he prayed for her, stating in the prayer, that she have NO pain. I was grateful for the prayer, but did not think that was possible (forgetting momentarily that with God all things are possible). The anesthetist had given Eva a block in her wrist that was supposed to last 4 to 5 hours. It lasted 18 hours and when the numbness ended, the pain from the surgery had already subsided. She had no pain from the surgery!

Nature of God: I say once again, that God is real! This world is designed to make God unreal. It is designed to deny God. It is designed to make Him irrelevant. We must consciously deny the world's denial and recognize His reality, even as the world claims Him unreal. Part of our unconscious worldly attachment (even though we claim to be Christians) is recognized, when we make our own plans and do not consider that God has any for us. This is called making an “investment.” We make investments by carving our own way in this world. God cares enough for us to want to show us what is right and what will glorify Him with regard to each thing we do (even the tiny things). By our siding with the world and denying that God has an opinion, we open ourselves up to Satan and his chaotic, unfulfilling ways. There is no riding the fence. We're either for God or for Satan.

I would like to NEVER invest in my own plans again (though I probably will). I would like to go, ever relying in God, prayerfully flipping a coin before Him and trying to see my way through His ever insightful and wonderful vision. Is it possible in this world? I see that it is. I don't want to have to mentally backtrack and wonder, did I make the right decision? Then have a tension build-up as I check with God even as the ball is rolling. No, Lord, I pray, help me, even in this world, know, REALLY KNOW, what You would have me do, not after I have made my plans, but before I make them.

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