Mathew 7:13   Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Have you ever done something with the best of intentions, and have it go wrong, so that you become a hindrance and not a help? I have. In fact there are days when it seems like the story of my life. How does that work?
There are some interesting quotations around this area. The one most of us are familiar with is “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Dr. Johnson, the great English writer and dictionary creator is often given as a source — but it really goes back much further. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux is recorded as saying “Hell is full of good intentions or desires.” There’s another one that I really can’t find a source for but which also seems to be the point: “Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works”.
As I’ve thought about this, I have realized that for me, at least, there are two issues.
The first is that sometimes the intentions are my intentions, and thinking about how I would value the results. That means I’m missing at least two points of view: that of the person I’m trying to “help”, and God’s!
The second is that it’s much harder for me to predict the results of my actions than it is for me to think of my well-intentioned “good deeds”.
So what should I do? How about I just give up, and stop trying to help? That idea surely has something to recommend it. If I don’t do anything, nothing can go wrong. Hmmm … Attractive, but wrong, I think. Jesus does not command passivity. Instead He says “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 KJVA)
So if doing nothing isn’t the answer, how about I just go ahead and keep “helping”, and live with the pain when things go wrong? After all, don’t they say “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” (That one’s attributed to Admiral Grace Hopper, one of my heroines.) I don’t think that’s the right answer either. It amounts to accepting I might cause harm — and I know that’s not right!
So what’s left? I’ve decided it’s a bit of a mixture. I know that just going ahead on the basis of my good intentions will surely lead to the hell of unexpected consequences. But doing nothing means passing up the chance to do some good. So I’m going to stop, and pray, and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance — and if there isn’t time, I’ll take that as a sign to do nothing!
How about you? How does this work out in your life? I’d like to hear!