Plans

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Have you ever made plans in your life, big or small, and kind of put a light “ if it’s the Lords will” on top of it? Almost feeling obligated as a Christian to say those certain words knowing that after all God is in control but yet have this  high chance in your mind that you know things will all pan out the way they should or the way you have planned?


All because there isn’t anything too serious that could or should come up in the mean time? And all because everything the last while has been smooth sailing?

For myself I am 100% guilty of this.


Instead you ought to say “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:15

I took that verse for what it said and let my mind ignore some of the surrounding context to realize the importance behind this.

 “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4:13-14‬

Hear in this life time I’m this mist that will vanish in no time! I’m just this small speck who thinks her plans are of importance in her, what she thinks, long lifetime!

Last September God humbled me when he let me know that his plans for me are not what I have planned for myself.

I had so perfectly planned out to conceive at a certain time, and I did.

I had so perfectly planned out all my photo sessions around having another baby

I had so perfectly planned out that Josiah would have a sibling that would be close in age.

I had so perfectly planned out to have a March baby so I could enjoy summer with my two children.

At 15 weeks we found out that our baby boy no longer had a heartbeat.
We were devastated and heartbroken! And one other key emotion that I felt was  lost because I had mentally and physically prepared for all these things/plans that would now not happen. All though I had said Lord willing,  I was still crushed by the end result.


The problem with all my planning  was that I had made all these plans myself!
I lightly threw on a “if it’s the Lords will “ knowing there is a chance that things won’t work out but felt there was a high chance everything would.


So instead of me fully putting my trust in God and praying to Him to help me see his will instead of my own, I kept myself preoccupied with perfecting my plans over and over again in my mind that when God did show me a new thing I was so lost and confused. It was if I had almost felt abandoned. I didn’t have enough trust to understand what He was doing. It made it hard to let go of what I had all planned in my mind.
 
But He quickly let me know that I had small tiny plans in my mind compared to his great plan.
I now see that I can get so carried away with making my own plans when I don’t even know what tomorrow will bring. I don’t know what God has in store for me.
I know that I need to fully put my trust in him to lead the way. Fully trust that he is in control, Because He is good, therefore knows what is good for me.






It’s up to me to accept or not accept his plan.
In the dark days that we had experienced I had decided I would accept his plans and let him know my life is in his hands. In this, Grace and Peace poured over me like I had never felt before.
Even though it felt tough at some points, I knew He was with me guiding me in a new direction.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:19‬ ‭

ACCEPTING GODS WILL
Some days it still feels tough  to put my full trust in God’s plan and accept his will.
And for some people it even puts fear in them to not know their future.  So how do we go about finding a way to be able to do this?
I had found this acronym for ACCEPT that could have important factors to help us daily in this struggle.

A- agree that God is in control and not man( Psalms 113:5-6).
If we can see Gods greatness for what it is  compared to man I believe it will help us to see that he is ultimately in control.

C- come to trust in Him in spite the circumstances around us( Romans 8:28).
In what seems like difficult times, if we can see that God is in control even then it will help us to build a relationship of trust with Him and that He has everything right where it should be.

C- confess your weakness honestly( 2 Corinthians 12:9)
Confessing your weakness honestly to Christ brings forth this automatic humbleness that then brings realization to who is in control.

E- expect your faith to be tested( James 1:2-3)
When we are tested in our Faith and we continue to follow Christ it helps to build perseverance and understanding.

P- pray according to the word of God( Hebrews 4:12)
Gods word is sharper then any two edged sword. When we pray according to the Holy scriptures our way can be made clear because Gods word is truth.

T- take in every day as a gift from God to show his glory through you( Jeremiah 29:11)
If every morning we can rise and thank God for this new day and say “ not my will be done, but Yours be done” it will help lead the plans set through out the day when God unexpectedly shows up.

If we can put these things to acknowledgement everyday it will equip us better to trust Gods plan for us.
Now not to say that we can’t make plans  but I think the key factor is having the mindset that God is in 100% control. That He may take you in a different direction at any given moment and we need to be prepared to take what may come.

--
Linda Driedger
Lighthouse Gospel Church

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