Pray that God's plan succeeds

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

Constance Foster tells of an elderly widow whose husband's death had left her almost destitute. No longer able to meet the heavy expense of maintaining her home, Mrs. Horton asked for prayer that she might by some miracle be able to keep it, together with all her cherished possessions. A few months later she wrote: "I prayed, but nothing happened." The house was to be sold at auction the following week. Mrs. Horton was heartbroken.

During the next few days Mrs. Horton went through her house with tear-stained eyes, sorting and discarding the accumulation of long years of living there. In the attic she ran across an old stamp collection that had been in her husband's family for years. She almost threw it in a pile of rubbish, for of what use were a lot of old stamps? But somehow, something made her put it aside to save.

A year went by before she thought of it again. The house had been sold. She was bitter. Her prayer had not been answered. Then one day she happened to see in a large city newspaper a list of the values of certain rare stamps. Mrs. Horton made a special trip to see the dealer, carrying the old collection with her, and when she left his office she was dazed, for in her purse she had his check for nearly $11,000.

The big old house had been much too large anyway for an old woman to care for comfortably. She did not need all that space. Today she realizes it. What she required was smaller living quarters, together with enough money in the bank for her expenses. That's exactly what God gave her in answer to her supposedly unanswered prayer.

Sometimes our plans fail that God's plans for us may succeed.

Dear Lord, thank You that Your plan is perfect. Help us to put our complete trust in You when we pray knowing that You have the best ahead for us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.