“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
I think I’ve told you before that I am a planner. I remember when my kids were teenagers they’d suggest something they wanted to do and I’d say “We can’t do that today. We have this planned.” My son got into the habit of saying “Well, let’s just do what yyooouuuu want to do” emphasizing the ‘you’ to make his point.
As I look back, I think I was pretty rigid with my plans. I made them. We did them and I didn’t like it when they changed. I look at my life now and marvel. Somehow, even though my tendencies are to want to plan and stick with the plan, my life has not turned out like that.
Right now, I am working on a project at work that constantly changes. I’ll have meetings scheduled for it and they may or may not happen. We are planting a church and so far most of it has been me asking God “What’s the next step?” The overall impression I am getting is that for this, we are doing it one step at a time. One step, when He’s ready. Not a lot of advance planning.
Don’t get me wrong. Planning is not a bad thing. I still plan. What I think I am learning is to not worship the plan but the Master Planner. I am learning that no matter what I plan, if God interrupts it, His plan is always better than mine.
There are days when my schedule is packed so tight, I can’t imagine how it’s going to work. He intervenes and things cancel or they move. I breathe a sigh of relief. Other days things happen that are very stressful. I don’t like it. Both days I try to look up and say “It’s your day. What do you want to do?”
I’m still not great at being flexible with the plan but I’m learning. Each day I pray and say “Let’s just do what YYYOOOOUUUU want to do.” And I mean it.