George Caywood

Years ago I was teaching my men’s my class at Union Rescue Mission in LA. After I finished one of the guys asked me a question. He said,”George, Have you ever cheated on your wife?
Me: No I have not.
Guy: How long have you been married?
Me: Over 20 years.
Guy: It’s just us guys.We won’t tell on you. You can tell us the truth.
Me: No I have never cheated on my wife.
He rephrased his question several more times and I replied, and each time I said “No, I have never cheated on my wife. I always have been faithful to her.”
Finally he went silent.. He sat there staring at me trying to absorb what I had said. Finally he threw himself back on his chair with a look of astonishment on his face.
Then, in almost a whisper he said, “Why not?”
I replied, “I have never drank Drano, I have never jumped off a tall building and I have never cheated on my wife all for the same reason.”
In program we talk about turning our will and our life over to the care of God.When I decided that I wanted to make that step, I did that so, so I could begin to learn that God’s will is always good for me and good for all the people around me. It turns out that what God wants for me is exactly the same as what I want for myself way deep down in the healthy part of me.
I have often joked with myself that when God and I are disputing over the next thing I should do, All God has to say is “OK, Have it your way.” Then I immediately say, “Oh never mind, God.” That is because having things my way is the stinking thinking that made things so unmanageable that I finally had to crawl into my meeting in the first place.