I am making plans for a party here at my farm. We’ll enjoy games, hay rides, a fire ring (with hot dogs and s’mores, of course), live music and more. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll just move everything (except the hay ride and fire ring!) indoors – I’ve got a big living room.
This past Friday was the Fourth of July. I felt a bit depressed since I did not have any special plans. But the day was beautiful, so I tackled lawn and garden chores, and soon my mood lifted.
Then I got an email. Friends wrote that their holiday plans had fallen through and their young daughter was wondering how they were going to celebrate the Fourth. A spontaneous thought hit me: why not invite them to the farm for the evening?
My friends arrived a bit after 4:30. Our unplanned “party” included visiting the pigs, Chester the cat, and Mannie the dog.
We made time for some target shooting. (This is EXTREMELY significant, and a topic for a later date!)
The menu of hot dogs, baked beans, pasta salad, and assorted fresh fruits satisfied our hunger. Then we headed to town to see fireworks. Careful scouting resulted in the perfect viewing spot and still allowed for a quick escape from traffic congestion at the end of the display. (Sorry, but that location is remaining a secret… I may want to use it again next year!)
My friends’ daughter summed up the day with her comment “this is the best Fourth of July ever.” I had to agree; while I was planning one party, God surprised me with another.
Our impromptu fun served as a reminder that God’s plans are bigger than our own. I remembered a Fourth years earlier that I did not enjoy; my life seemed to be blowing to pieces with the same intensity as the fireworks I was watching. Years of sinful choices had caught up with me and I was losing almost everything I depended on for a sense of identity.
Time has proven that the death of my plans was actually the birth of a new life that continues to grow.
God was preparing me to heal from (and forgive) past abuse and dysfunction. He was uncovering my selfishness, so I could begin to live in my true identity as “beloved son”, adopted into God’s family by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. God was leading me on an adventure of facing deep fears. (Remember the comment about target shooting…!) All of this (and much more) has happened since my plans for my life crashed.
Our story does not end when our plans unravel. Rather, we are entering a new chapter where we face new challenges and experience new victories. We may stumble or even fall. But God lifts us up and encourages us with His promise “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29: 11).
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” ~ Proverbs 16:9
I’ve had many of my own plans derailed, but I can look back with gratefulness at how God has directed my steps along the way. And what He has planned is far better than the original course that I had laid out.
Thank you for this reminder. It was very timely.