All through out College, my roommate, Emily, kept a white board hanging on her wall. She would jot down anything and everything on that board. She would write anything from when she had tests coming up to reminders of buying paper towels.
Type A planner, you could say so.
Last semester she became convicted and her anthem for the year became "Wipe your white board." She explained, she can write down whatever she wants but ultimately God will direct her. She needed to wipe her white board clean and let God guide her. She did. Ohhhh how she did. Because she ended up in Haiti...which was not even a speck on the white board.
I love to plan as well. I love to have an idea of what is going to happen. It stems from a sense of wanting to be in control. Like I get overwhelmed when things happen at the last minute. I try not to let that show but inside my nervous system feels like it's on crack.
In College, I would write essays a week ahead of the due date and when it got down to three days before the due date and I wasn't finished...I would FREAK out. My dad likes to get things done ahead of time as well. The rest of my family are procrastinators. Peter once had to write an essay on The Great Gatsby, he started typing the night before it was due and he hadn't even read the book yet either. I cannot function like that. Just no.
This week I have been learning to live in the flexibility. As I sit down and make goals for the week, month, year...I am reminded of James 4:14 "You do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."
Last week, I planned my schedule for this week. With complete honesty I can say that my schedule did not include homesickness, and my grandmother having a stroke. That just wasn't in my realm of possibilities for the week. But nonetheless it happened. And it stretched me. And taught me to lean on God, not my planner.
I have been reading in the Gospel of Luke lately, and this week has caused me to think of Mary. Like a lot.
It is natural to understand the changes of Saul to Paul's life. Tax collectors to disciples. I get those. Plans change and I'm on board with those changes because it is easier to see the changes that needed to take place in their life.
But Mary is the one that I relate to. Mary's changes were unexpected. Her desires and daily activities were pure and intended for good yet her plans still changed.
She was engaged to Joseph. Sweet temperament. Humble background. Believer in the promise of the long awaited Messiah. Good family relationships.
Imagine the situation.
She was probably in the process of planning her wedding. Completely normal for a girl that is engaged. She was probably about to pick the flowers out when God steps into her life and says
PS: you're pregnant.
She might not have had that in her planner. Just a wild guess.
But that is how it happens.
Obviously she was a sinner striving to live a life pleasing to the Lord. And when she received this news that changed MANY of her plans, her response was "I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:38
That is beautiful. That is what I want to emulate.
Making plans yet remaining more than content when they go off rail. Because they will go off rail. Bank on that.
Why would you need Jesus if you truly knew everything about how your week was going to look?
So as I plan for 2014 ministry and what it will look like. I am excited. I see possibilities and seeds being planted. And God at work. Yet no matter how much I plan, my heart needs to cling to the fact that everything could change in a instant. My response needs to be and remain "I am a servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word." Imagine what your week would look like if Monday through Friday that verse was all you filled in your daily activities. Your routine might change.
You may spend a night in prayer for your grandmother instead of sleeping.
You may go to the store early in the morning to get coffee because you need to stay awake, and you may get the opportunity to ask the employee, that you usually wouldn't have seen at this hour, how she is doing.
Embrace the unpredictability.
Wipe your white board. Clean.
Type A planner, you could say so.
Last semester she became convicted and her anthem for the year became "Wipe your white board." She explained, she can write down whatever she wants but ultimately God will direct her. She needed to wipe her white board clean and let God guide her. She did. Ohhhh how she did. Because she ended up in Haiti...which was not even a speck on the white board.
I love to plan as well. I love to have an idea of what is going to happen. It stems from a sense of wanting to be in control. Like I get overwhelmed when things happen at the last minute. I try not to let that show but inside my nervous system feels like it's on crack.
In College, I would write essays a week ahead of the due date and when it got down to three days before the due date and I wasn't finished...I would FREAK out. My dad likes to get things done ahead of time as well. The rest of my family are procrastinators. Peter once had to write an essay on The Great Gatsby, he started typing the night before it was due and he hadn't even read the book yet either. I cannot function like that. Just no.
This week I have been learning to live in the flexibility. As I sit down and make goals for the week, month, year...I am reminded of James 4:14 "You do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."
Last week, I planned my schedule for this week. With complete honesty I can say that my schedule did not include homesickness, and my grandmother having a stroke. That just wasn't in my realm of possibilities for the week. But nonetheless it happened. And it stretched me. And taught me to lean on God, not my planner.
I have been reading in the Gospel of Luke lately, and this week has caused me to think of Mary. Like a lot.
It is natural to understand the changes of Saul to Paul's life. Tax collectors to disciples. I get those. Plans change and I'm on board with those changes because it is easier to see the changes that needed to take place in their life.
But Mary is the one that I relate to. Mary's changes were unexpected. Her desires and daily activities were pure and intended for good yet her plans still changed.
She was engaged to Joseph. Sweet temperament. Humble background. Believer in the promise of the long awaited Messiah. Good family relationships.
Imagine the situation.
She was probably in the process of planning her wedding. Completely normal for a girl that is engaged. She was probably about to pick the flowers out when God steps into her life and says
PS: you're pregnant.
She might not have had that in her planner. Just a wild guess.
But that is how it happens.
Obviously she was a sinner striving to live a life pleasing to the Lord. And when she received this news that changed MANY of her plans, her response was "I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:38
That is beautiful. That is what I want to emulate.
Making plans yet remaining more than content when they go off rail. Because they will go off rail. Bank on that.
Why would you need Jesus if you truly knew everything about how your week was going to look?
So as I plan for 2014 ministry and what it will look like. I am excited. I see possibilities and seeds being planted. And God at work. Yet no matter how much I plan, my heart needs to cling to the fact that everything could change in a instant. My response needs to be and remain "I am a servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word." Imagine what your week would look like if Monday through Friday that verse was all you filled in your daily activities. Your routine might change.
You may spend a night in prayer for your grandmother instead of sleeping.
You may go to the store early in the morning to get coffee because you need to stay awake, and you may get the opportunity to ask the employee, that you usually wouldn't have seen at this hour, how she is doing.
Embrace the unpredictability.
Wipe your white board. Clean.
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