Ask God How to Pour Cereal

Just now, I poured myself a bowl of cereal shortly before realizing that we're almost out of milk. I decided to have oatmeal instead, but first, I would have to put the cereal back in the box. After a brief, fruitless search for a suitable funnel, I tried to simply pour the cereal back into the box straight from the bowl. It didn't go well. With a few cheerios spilled on the counter and the bowl still half-full of cereal, I admitted to myself that this was a bad idea, but it was the only idea I had at the time, so I proceeded to pour the rest of the cereal back into the box, spilling another few cheerios in the process. It was only after I had emptied the bowl into the box and onto the counter that a voice inside my head told me "You could have used a piece of paper."

I had learned long ago the mystic art of holding a piece of paper so it could be used as a funnel. All I needed was a food-safe piece of paper, and I could have effectively poured all of the cheerios back into the box, not spilling any. It seems strange that the inspiration came to me only after it was too late, but it kind of serves me right. After all, I never thought to ask.

We consistently face challenges and decisions, and we often rely on our own wisdom to solve them. This is usually because we think we're wise enough to handle the situation, or we think the situation is trivial enough that God wouldn't bother weighing in. Of course, sometimes, neither is the case, but we still don't ask, because we don't expect God to answer. And to be fair, God doesn't always answer, even when we do ask for ideas or advice. Sometimes, He lets us try to figure things out on our own, so we get used to having to figure things out on our own, and we may forget that we can always ask for help if we think we could use it.

This is the situation I was in this morning. I knew I wasn't handling the situation perfectly, but I didn't think it mattered enough for God to want to give me advice. He's a busy man, and a few pieces of cereal really aren't worth the effort of saving. But honestly, it wasn't so much that I thought God wouldn't answer a request for ideas; it's that I didn't think to ask. I forgot that I had 24/7 access to an omniscient God who might have been willing to give me an idea or offer some advice. I forgot that I could have collaborated with the one being who knows everything, and we could have come up with a better plan. I forgot that I wasn't alone, that I'm never alone, and that He's always in the back of my mind, waiting for me to reach out and talk to Him, to ask Him my questions, and seek His advice.

Sure, He doesn't always answer our questions or give us advice. Sometimes, what we ask about really doesn't matter, and He let's us exercise our idea- and decision-making muscles and figure things out (or not) on our own. But it couldn't hurt to ask. And really, if we can occasionally tap into the mind of the guy who always knows exactly what to do in any given situation, why would we ever not? Why would we choose to flounder around, trying to come up with our own ideas, without even asking God if He has any input? Sure, He might not answer, but He just might. This morning, I thought my problem was too trivial for God to bother to solve it, but now I think that He was truly willing to teach me a clever way to not spill my cheerios, if only I had thought to ask.