Will You Allow God to Change Your Plans?

Will You Allow God to Change Your Plans?

by | Jan 18, 2019 | Uncategorized

In their hearts, humans plan their course but the LORD establishes their steps. –Proverbs 16:9 NLT 

I don’t know about you, but there are a lot of times when I think that my life should look like the top picture, but the bottom picture is a better description of how my life unfolds. Can you relate?

Look, if your life is always the top picture, let me know. I really would love to talk to you!

There's nothing like imagining life as a straight line but in reality, God allows my life to look a little more like an off-road adventure with no steering wheel.  

Most of us know what it's like to travel unplanned roads gathering vital life lessons, experience the good, the bad and the not fair. In high school, I thought that I'd be an English teacher. I ended up married. While married and in college, I planned to be an attorney. I ended up graduating from college earlier and becoming an insurance adjuster. I planned to have two kids, but God knew that we needed the third one who has added so much fun into our lives. 

Now, I’m traveling along a long, dark, bumpy road of an addiction issue in our family. God, I’m not a fan of this particular road. Can you re-route us back over to the familiar road where we could set the cruise control and enjoy the sun on our faces? 

God’s answer seems to be: Sweet Barb, this is the road I've allowed for you. Stop focusing on the bumps and look forward so that you won't miss my blessings.

Does that whisper sound familiar to you, too?

Some of you are totally grooving with me right now. We’re waking up each day living a life that we could have never imagined in our wildest dreams – or scariest nightmares.   

So, when I think about King Solomon’s observation in Proverbs 16:9 that we can make plans but God determines our steps, I think that there is tremendous wisdom that we can apply to our lives at the beginning of the new year. 

In this verse, we are reminded that God controls the speed and direction of our desired steps.  This means that there will likely be points in our life journey when our lives and plans will blow off course, like a ship blown off course in a storm. 

We have to move unexpectedly… 

We switch to a new career… 

We can’t pregnant… 

We get a life-changing diagnosis… 

We feel God’s prompting to change our lifestyle… 

We’ll face the loss of a child or spouse… 

When our lives seem to blow off course – even for good reasons – it can be a shock to our system. While there are some surprises like a promotion or new baby that we can get behind and get excited about, the tough unexpected changes can bring a kind of pain that tempts us to shake our fist at God and beg him to put our lives back on track. 

What if God changes your life so that you can take some life-changing steps of faith? 

In Proverbs 16:9, the last part of the verse says that God establishes our steps. As I reflected on those words, I realized that God’s plan for our lives includes an off-course invitation to take steps that are often difficult, but always have eternal value.  

Here's some steps of opportunity that God might be inviting you to take in this off-road season of your life:

If you're out of your comfort zone, God invites you to take a step of faith. 

If you aren't getting what you want, God invites you to take a step of surrender. 

If your plan is delayed, God invites you to take a step of patience. 

If you've made a mistake, God invites you to take a step of humility. 

If a friend or family fails you, God invites you to take a step of forgiveness. 

If you've fallen into sin, God invites you to take a step of repentance. 

A friendly reminder (or you might need the following as a warning against wrong expectations of God):  Just because you take the step doesn’t mean that God will put your plans back on track.

That’s not how God works. Rather, your step is a willingness to allow God to take you on a journey to a place that you’ve never been and lead you toward experiencing a level of faith and trust that you’ve never had. 

If I had to drill down what I’ve learned about what happens when God allows the plans for my life to go off-course, here’s a summary of what I’ve learned: 

It will be a wild ride. 

It will be an emotional journey. 

You’ll experience a closer relationship with God that you could never accomplish any other way. 

 

COMMENT: Has your life blown off your planned course? What step do you feel God might be calling you to take?

Once upon a 365 days ago…

Once upon a 365 days ago…

by | Jul 24, 2013 | Christian Living/Discipleship

Happy birthday photoIt was exactly a year ago that I woke up on my 40th birthday in a really bad mood.

I hated turning 40. Hated it. Even saying the words, “I’m 40” seemed to stick in my throat. Still does…

In the weeks leading up to my birthday last year, I sensed the likelihood of a meltdown, so I wisely planned a distraction: a partial kitchen remodel. Since I’m not super-handy, I had figured driving back and forth to Home Depot that week would keep me too busy to think about the Big 4-0.

On the morning of my July 24th birthday, I had planned to start painting the cabinet doors. As I mixed paint at 8:15am that morning, I groused to God about reaching this dreaded female milestone. Yet, I also felt guilty for being ungrateful. Afterall, I was alive, right? As I prepped the cabinets, I began to obsess (maybe even panic…) about what might be next in my life. And, what if there wasn’t a “next”? That thought terrified me. I begged God to help me shake off the “40-funk” that was settling into my heart.

At 8:30am, the phone rang. Then, everything changed:

“Barb, you need to meet Life Flight at St. V’s. Your sister-in-law and niece are headed there. They’ve been in an accident. Someone has died, but we don’t know who or in which car.”

Luckily, the hospital’s location is three minutes from my house and I was there within 10 minutes of the phone call. After waiting, I found out that my sister-in-law was alive and my niece was unconscious and in critical condition. Then, sadly, I learned that one of the passengers in the other vehicle had died. All I could do was cry and pray.

It was only 10am…and I was no longer concerned about turning 40.

As we paced through the hours of the day, our brains were in a haze from the overload of information and emotions. Yet, there are certain parts of life that just went on. For instance, it was my birthday, so I still had to get my car registration and tags renewed. At the BMV,  I met saw a woman in line that I had seen at the hospital earlier in the day. Later, I found out her name was Ms. Lucy Oliver. As the battle for life and death circled around us, I had a chance to talk with one of St. V’s beloved employees. Weeks later, I would use her faith-filled testimony in one of my weekend messages.

In the days that followed the accident, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law held their daughter’s hand as her body struggled to survive surgery after surgery. Our immediate and distant family members would travel back and forth to the hospital to see and support in many different ways. Time moved fast and slow – simultaneously.

God spared my beautiful niece, Camie’s life. Over the past year, she’s worked so hard to regain the ability to walk and be mobile. She rocked out her academics and will graduate from high school next spring – an entire year early!  Camie even got her driver’s license this year! Amazing! 365 days ago, I never could have imagined what today would look like.

As I think about the last 365 days of my life, there are so many different storylines to recall. Days of triumph, joy and peace mixed in with days of darkness, pain and confusion. Of course, I wish that there were more of the good days than bad ones, but as I get older, I’ve learned that the keeping score isn’t the point.

Sooooo, now I am 41. Yep, 41. This year, I choose to be grateful for the chance to live out every unknown (sometimes difficult or scary moments). When I remember that God has plans, not problems, I cope with life so much better.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (New Living Translation) 

As a reforming control-freak, one of my biggest issues is not worrying about the future.  Yet, God’s plans are for me. Whatever problems I am currently navigating are a part of His plan and thankfully, I can’t screw up His plan. Whew.

So, if you’re wondering what I am doing for my birthday this year, I’m repeating the verses in Jeremiah 29:11-13 to myself. Over and over again…

 

Pin It on Pinterest