Frozen Pond

My son surprised me yesterday. It wasn't the good kind of surprise, either, like when someone gives you a gift you weren't expecting. No, he surprised me with something that caused fear to come over me. We went for a walk down to the pond in the park behind our house yesterday, because the pond has frozen over with the very cold temperatures lately. We wanted to go see it and maybe step on the ice a little bit along the edge to see if it would hold our weight. It was a father and son adventure. When we stepped out on the edge of the pond, we could see that it was definitely frozen enough to hold our weight. That's when my son surprised me. Before I could warn him, he fearlessly walked out about 15 ft from the shore on the ice, and said, "I did this yesterday, Dad, I know it can hold me up." That's when the fear came over me. "What, you did this yesterday?" Now, I'm thinking back to yesterday. When did he come down here by himself? Then I remembered. We had asked him to go walk the dog, Buster, down at the park. Now, I knew. He had gone down there when he walked the dog by himself. At that point the "what if" fear began to grip me. "What if" he had broken through the ice and I wasn't around. Without becoming angry, but certainly wanting him to understand how serious I was, I began to instruct him to never do that again. This was something we were to do together, never alone. It reminded me that it is impossible for me to always know what my son is doing at every moment. This is not the first time I've been surprised and it surely won't be the last, but God is never surprised. Just that morning I read these words in Proverbs, "For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths." (4:21) God is never surprised! That is amazing, wonderful, and disconcerting all at the same time. He's never surprised at the good and bad things He sees. And, yet, He is still compassionate towards me. Disappointed sometimes when I want to do things my way, but always lovingly drawing me back to His perfect way. He sees me stepping out on the ice and flirting with danger. He doesn't remove the consequences if I fall through the ice, but He certainly there to dry me off and warm me up; reminding me that His path is always the best and I should never try to do life alone.
Duane