Klaus recently taught me how to use a Microsoft Word tool I didn’t even know existed. “If you press ‘control’ and ‘f’ together,” he said, “a box comes up with an option to highlight certain words in a document. Let’s say you’re wondering how many times you’ve used the word ‘dog’ in one of your posts. Type it in, click ‘highlight all’ and all the ‘dogs’ will be come up in yellow.”

I tried it, loved it, and have used it daily ever since. This morning I was thinking about the beautifully bright highlights on the computer screen and thought, “Wouldn’t it be spectacular if I could highlight God’s messages to me in bright yellow?” I could be absolutely sure I was following his advice, making correct decisions, and catching every sin. There would be no wiggle-room for mistakes or detours.

He could also highlight every blessing in yellow so I wouldn’t miss a single one. Although it’s easy to spot the big ones, the little ones often slip past me unnoticed. God knows my tendency to focus first on the faded parts of life, the grey zones, the black things. They loom large, dominating all things visible, and he could help significantly with lots of eye-catching yellow surrounding all the good stuff.

When I was in journalism school, we studied advertising signage and learned the most attention-grabbing color was yellow (on a black background). It’s arresting and easy to read, commanding our attention. That’s exactly what I need.

God could certainly do this. But he doesn’t.

Actually he could do lots of stuff to make things easier for us but doesn’t. Why is that? Since he hasn’t highlighted the answer, I’m not sure. But since my relationship with him is daughter-to-father, I’ve tried to analyze it by studying human parenting strategies.

Teaching youngsters most effectively is simple. We issue the rules, then hope self-discipline will come after they experience natural consequences. For example, if we open the oven and say, “It’s hot! Don’t touch it!” they usually touch anyway. But a little burn teaches them flawlessly. Had we printed the word “hot” on the oven door in captivating yellow letters, it wouldn’t have been very effective.

Another example: when we teach a teen to manage a debit card, we can highlight our counsel: “BIG FEES FOR OVERDRAWING!” But more effective is having to pay $36 for going in the hole. None of us likes to obey advisory signs, and most of us aren’t very good at it. And that’s probably why God doesn’t highlight anything in yellow for us.

He knows it wouldn’t do a bit of good.

Whatever his reason, I’m not going to stress over it but will find my highlighting-fun by way of “control-plus-f.”

“I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go.” (Psalm 143:8)