Philippians 3:20 (New International Version)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we look at life and how things are going are we
looking at it from the viewpoint of what I want or from God’s perspective of
what is best? Things can change in a twinkle of an eye as is shown in the following
story.
One snowy morning, I left church with a simple "to
do" list. It included "Go to church, go home, and relax with the
family." Nowhere on the list was "fishtail around an icy curve,
become airborne, flip my van, barely miss a telephone pole, puncture the gas
tank, and crash upside down in a cow pasture." But that’s just what I did.
My plans flew out the shattered windshield, as I peered
out at the world upside down. (Does it turn your world upside down when things
don’t go as you’d planned?) Amid the odorous cow pies, I observed a herd of
hefty Holsteins hot-footing it away from the accordion-shaped vehicle, which
had sailed over the barbed wire fence.
This was not my idea of a fun afternoon. There I was,
standing on my head, trying to pry open a door that was scrunched into the side
of a hill. I smelled gas leaking into the van and I heard my knees knocking. As
I pulled glass shards from my head, I envisioned this gas-filled time bomb
exploding and blasting me heavenward like a circus clown from a canon. All I
could do was tremble and pray. Once again, life had happened while I was making
other plans.
While I did not fly to the moon, and my van did not
explode, I was rescued by a passing motorist and whisked away in an ambulance
to the Emergency Room. As is often the case, my plans changed in the blink of
an eye.
When I think I've planned for all the details and I lay
out the perfect blueprint for my life, here’s what usually happens: The reality
bird comes along and lays an ugly, giant egg in the middle of my agenda!
I've learned that, rather than falling into place, life
will more likely fall to pieces. It’s like an ice cream cone. I might think I
have it licked; but then it drips all over me.
"But," I say to myself, "Life wasn't
supposed to be this way!" I don’t know about you, but I planned to stay
healthy/wealthy/young/beautiful/married/happy/unwrinkled, stretch mark free,
and flabbiness forever. (You can fill in your own blanks.)
Most people think God wants them to have an easy,
comfortable life, getting what they want when they want it. While it’s true
that God enjoys giving good things to His children, they’re often not physical
things. He wants to provide invisible gifts, such as a closer relationship with
Him.
God’s ultimate goal is for me to become like Him. That doesn't happen when everything’s rosy.
When my plans change, I tend to forget that God has a
higher goal for me than just a life of ease. He wants to work on my heart and
build my character. I believe God cares about my struggles and He hurts when I
hurt, but what is most important to Him is developing in me faith, patience,
goodness, and gentleness. In other words, God wants to make me like Jesus.
Though He doesn't cause struggles and hardships, He uses them to accomplish His
goals for my life.
This one is just a rehearsal designed to prepare us for
the real thing.
When my plans don’t succeed, I ask what God’s plan might
be. Could it be that He allowed a certain situation to redirect my focus? Could
He be trying to get my tunnel vision off myself? Maybe He wants to lead me
toward a closer relationship with Him.
Instead of telling God my plan and making Him laugh,
maybe I should seek to know His plan and make Him smile.
Dear Lord we thank you that You are in control even when
things look like they are falling apart. We pray that our trust in You would
stay strong. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment