My favorite "cannibal story". (My dream...or Yours? Part I)

One of my favorite missionary/cannibal stories tells of a tribe which no outsiders had been able to reach out to, because anyone who tried to establish contact with the people ended up on the tribal menu for the day.  No one had survived.

Along came a young man who declared his intention of going to this group, with the same desire that the ones before him had cherished, to give them the Good News of God's love.  Would he end up in the same stew as the others had?  He was not to be dissuaded, so his family and friends saw him off with great trepidation.

He located the tribe...and the people immediately grabbed hold of him, with the obvious intention of taking him to the feast...as part of the entree.

But he managed to get their attention and indicate that maybe they should taste him first, to see if he was palatable or not.  It seemed a good idea, so tribesmen gathered around as the young man lifted his pant leg and gouged out a piece of his leg with a penknife.

He held out the chunk of his leg...the chief bit into it...and quickly spat it out. It tasted terrible!  The consensus was that it wasn't worth killing and eating this white man, as he would not make good eating at all.  Thus the man was able to stay in the tribe, and soon he had established friendships and little by little was able to introduce them to his Lord.

Had he any idea that this would happen when, years before, he had unfortunately lost one of his legs?  At that moment, it must have been a crushing event, probably ruining his dreams of living a normal life.  A wooden leg!  It changed his life forever...but it also was instrumental in changing the lives of a tribe of cannibals.  The piece of leg he had handed the chief was taken from that wooden leg, so of course it tasted awful!  God knew exactly what He was doing in allowing what had seemed a tragedy at the time: the loss of the young man's leg.
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Jeremiah wrote: "I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps."  (10:23)  That doesn't mean that we're to have a fatalistic attitude, and shuffle zombie-like through life as if nothing we could do would make any difference anyway!  It does let us know that to try to manage our lives by our own criteria and plan our steps according to our own ideas is not the way that works best...it is not a trustworthy formula...it is not the ideal!  It's never worth it in the end.

We sure try, though, don't we?!  Managing our own lives, planning our own steps?  I think it's a very good thing that God sometimes overrides us!  We look back and think, "Thank you so much, Lord, for not letting me get away with that!" or  "Thank You for throwing a wrench into that particular plan of mine, because if You hadn't...I'd be in a mess!"

So our best bet, by far, is to make sure our lives belong to God and that He directs our steps.  (Quite a challenge, imperfect as we are!) His presence at our side is paramount.  The psalmist said, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere." (Psalm 84:10)  His way is always better...always!
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Next week, I will share a poem with you that describes what can happen when my dream dies...and His dream is born.    Join me for Part II!