The Plan

Sometimes God's plan for one's life can appear to have logical flow to it.    The future looks like it is laid out so neatly. It's easy to "go with the flow".  You can see the role you are supposed to play: the steps that should be taken.    And then....the proverbial apple cart is upset.   You witness it in slow motion and see all the apples in mid air slowly arcing upward in every direction.   And you hear the screech of the needle being pushed across vinyl.

Is this an interruption of God's plan?  Was there a misstep and is this the correction? Or, in His infinite wisdom, did God design His plan to look like this, airborne apples and all?

I read a devotion yesterday from "Today is Your Best Day"by Roy Lessin, the one about recognizing God's plan and how God's plan may not take you in the direction you were expecting.  It may even contradict what God promised you. "Abraham had a promise from God that his son, Isaac, would be heir to God's covenant promise, but Abraham never thought that God would test his faith by asking him to offer Isaac on an altar. ....Peter heard Jesus' promise to make him a fisher of men, but Peter, a devout Jew, had no idea that God would use him to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles..."

So what do you do when the route unexpectedly changes.  Do you run around and try to catch all the apples before they hit the ground, or do you let the apples drop where they may?   Did I trust the plan more than the Planner?    I have to remember that He is the Guide and I am the follower.    Jer 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." On days like this I don't understand the plan and lose my bearings, it doesn't make sense.  God's wisdom can seem foolish to us. But I know I can trust His promises.   I know they never fail and that my trust is never misplaced. I can trust His plan even when I don't understand it.  Even when I can't see the next step, I know He is with me. 

So do not fear, for I am with you;

   do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

Isaiah 41:10

I know...easy for me to say, but the alternative is that I have to figure this out on my own.   And we all know that there is no way I can juggle all those apples.....