When My Plans Get Wreaked

I feel like the words in this picture describe most of what I've done throughout 2020. I had made plans. I had things wanted to do and set out on an adventure filled year. 

Then I had to cancel so many plans. All of us have. All of us had to deal with disappointments. All of us wish we could have stuck with the original plan.

But that's not what God had in mind. He had a better plan. He knew we needed this. He knew we needed to grow. He knew that for many of us it would be the wake up call we needed. He knew this would be a time to remember what's really important. He knew this was what we needed not what we wanted. 

Do I like having to cancel plans repeatedly? No. Do I like growth pains? No. Am I thankful that God works even in the middle of crazy times and disappointmented plans? You'd better believe it! I'm so thankful that God is sovereign and that He is at work no matter what the world is throwing at us. He is still good and He is actively working in our lives. As one of my favorite Bible teachers Whitney Capps says it like this, "Life is hard. Hard is good. God is best."

If we could only grasp this beautiful reality, what a difference it would make. We could embrace the challenges and canceled plans with joy because we know that God is working out the very best in us. He is overseeing the master plan. He is sovereign and good. 

I know for me it hasn't been easy to cancel so many plans, but the longer that the uncertainty drags on it makes me more and more grateful that God is working even this for the very best. It's hard. Hard is good. Why? Because in the hard we have the opportunity to reach out for the best. The best is God. The best will always be God. 

And that is why we can have joy. Let's embrace this reality a little more fully today shall we? 

Where I'm At

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Sometimes you have to start with where you are.
Sometimes you have to stop making excuses.
Sometimes you have to simply own up to the facts.
Sometimes you need to own where you are.
Why?
So that you can get to where you need to be.
So you can move past what is slowing you down.
So that you can remember how you got here.
So that you can be reminded whos you are.
You are in Christ.
You are chosen.
You are redeemed.
You have purpose.
You have so many reasons to walk forward.
If today you are struggling with where you are.
If today you want to change.
If today you can't see a way from where you are to where you want to be, there is hope.
There is hope for a better tomorrow.
There is a better place.
There is a life beyond words waiting to be unwrapped.
Come to God.
Start with where you are.
Let Him unfold the path to where you want to be.

When My Plans Change

A week ago I found out that the missions trip that I planned to go on was canceled for this year. 

At first I was sad. This was going to be an opportunity to serve God and get out of my comfort zone. It was taken away. I went to God. It was then that He gave me a peace built on this truth: even in your worst disappointment, God is working out a better plan. When my plans crash and burn and I'm sorting through wreakege He is working to create the best plan. He will always give you more than you lost. 

So as I worked to pick through the pieces and deal with my own disappointment, there was a hope that I couldn't shake. It was a hope in God. A hope that He knew this was going to happen and planned the best way to move forward, but it will be exactly what God wants. He will infuse me with His love and strengthen me to do whatever He has called me to do. That is the promise I can bank even in these uncertain times. 

I praise God that He is the Master Planner, The King over all, the Lord over creation, the all-knowing God. He reigns and will accomplish His work. I can rest in that. I can continue in what I know to do and entrust the rest to His matchless care. 

Ambiguity

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One of the things that this pandemic has brought to the light was how much I don't like ambiguity.  I like knowing how long a movie is and how long I have until the end. How am I supposed to plan a budget? I want to know when I can go back to work. I want to know when things will happen. I want to know when waiting periods will come to an end. I want to know when I can hug my friends again. It's not that I can't go with the flow or be spontaneous, I just prefer to know when things will happen. 

God has been graciously and lovingly bringing this to light in me. He wants me to remember that there will always be things in my life that will be ambiguous. There will be some questions that won't get answers for a while. It's what I do with these areas that matters. I could choose to become angry at God for not giving me more clarity or for withholding an answer. Or I can choose to surrender these areas into His hands. I can bring all my questions to Him and place them in His hands. 

When I surrender to Him, I can rest that He knows the greater plan. I can stand in this middle ground between the past and what I don't know and trust Him to lead me forward. It's then that I see the next step. Not all of them, but the one that I need to take. It's as I take that next step that the next becomes clear.

It's in these times that I realize more than before it's not about my questions being answered, its about me taking the next step. It's about God getting the glory even if I can't see the whole picture. Its about continuing to obey when I can't see how it it will end. 

No I still don't like ambiguity, but in the middle of it I can trust God. I look for the light and take the step, knowing that He has the plan and will care for all the details. Even the ones that are ambitious to me.