Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)
“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
Plans. We all have them. Despite the uncertainties and constant change in this world, we still make them. We’re taught in school we need a 5 year plan. Than we need a 10 year plan. And for the truly neurotic, a 20 year plan.
19 years ago I felt God calling me into full-time ministry. 2 years ago my wife and I sat on the couch at our Pastor’s house as I told him and his wife the story of my life for the first time. 1 year ago I sat in my Pastor’s office telling him about a dream I had about leading worship and the new passion it had brought into my walk with God. And 6 months ago I began studying to receive my credentials to become a pastor.
“Do I look like a man with a plan?”. That’s what the Joker asked Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. For basically my entire adult life I had a plan. I would scheme and maneuver for promotions and raises, playing out my life like it was a game of chess. As brilliantly designed and tactfully executed my plans would go astray or stall out. I was in a constant mode of chasing. It took me 20 years to figure out why.
The plan for my life was written before I was even born. I didn’t need to scheme or plan. God laid my steps out, all I had to do was follow the footprints. Just like one of those old school dance instruction kits.
So now here I sit. 5 days away from the first big youth event. 1 week away from the first message to my students. I have a calendar in front of me going over the upcoming events Stacy and I have planned. Am I making plans? Yes. Whats the difference you ask? My past plans I made were to get me to where I wanted to be in the timeframe I wanted to get there. Now my plans are just steps and happenings within God’s greater plan for my life.
I had plans. I was a schemer. But I am no agent of chaos like the Joker. I am a prisoner set free by the plans God has for me.
Resonant Love 