Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Mid-Week Message - Plans vs. Reality

"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. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."   James 4:13-16

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."  Proverbs 19:21

Here is a question for you.  Are you where you thought you would be today?  Has everything turned out the way you planned?  If you are like me, your answer will be a mixture of yes and no.  I always wanted to be married and to be a mother.  Of course my thoughts were fantasies of how everything would unfold.  I am married and I am a mother.  But guess what?  None of us are perfect and we don't compare to the television couples that I based my wishes upon.  Why?  Because we live in the real world where life is a lot more complicated than can be depicted in a thirty minute scripted program.  My child is smart and beautiful but she isn't perfect either and I wasn't, and still am not, the ideal mother who always knows the right answers and never loses her temper.  But I'm sure this isn't a revelation.  

Each of us dreams of the perfect life.  Some of us are fortunate enough to realize some of those dreams.  However, for a great many of us, life takes many different turns than we had ever imagined.  Relationships fail.  Jobs fizzle.  Money slips through our fingers as soon as we get it.  Illness visits.  Death darkens our doorways.  Life isn't always kind.  So shall we just give up?  Declare it hopeless?  

James reminds us that the important thing to focus on is God's will for our lives.  Instead of expecting life to be what we planned, we need to ask the Lord what His will is for us and trust that if we end up somewhere that we never expected to be then we just might be where He wants us to be in order to accomplish His purpose in our own lives and the lives of others.  He is the One that knows us better than we know ourselves and He sees our entire lives in one glance.  Ultimately, our Father knows what we need rather than what we necessarily want.  

Are you struggling with where you are today?  I urge you to go to Him and surrender your own will and invite Him to be in control.  That is the path to peace in life.  It is my sincere belief that His plans for us are far greater than anything we can dream up for ourselves.  Let go of the world and grasp the Kingdom.  God bless you!

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