Thinking Ahead, Not Planning

For the past couple of years, December has become a month of reflection and forethought for the coming year.  I use the word forethought because this year, the Lord has made it clear to me that my plans are not the ones that count.  I am thinking about the coming year, but I cannot say I am planning out the coming year, as I have in the past.  

At this time last year, we were decluttering our home, planning to sell it, and touring new homes to purchase.  We planned that it would be seamless!  It was not.  His plans were not our plans and His plans prevail.  While our plans were completely derailed, I must give God all the honor and praise because the home He selected for us is everything we wanted, thought we might want, and more!  

I thought I would be attending my son’s graduation in June and dropping him off in college in August, but currently his graduation party is scheduled for December 23.  These are not my plans.  

While you may be a planner, like me, we must always remember that His plans are the ones that matter.  Our plans will only succeed if they are in alignment with His plans.  We must understand that our plans are based on our limited knowledge, while His plans are formed from His omniscience.  His plans serve to build His kingdom, while ours tend to serve ourselves.  When we pray about our plans, we must do so with the understanding of “thy will be done.”  Of course, He cares about the desires of our hearts, but sometimes what we want is not what He has planned for us.  Sometimes what we want is not good for us.  Sometimes what we want is not good for the upbuilding of His kingdom.  We must be willing to yield to His plans, and be obedient to His will.  Amen.

~Isaiah 55:8-11
8My plans aren’t your plans,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my plans than your plans.
10Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky
 and don’t return there without watering the earth,
 making it conceive and yield plants
 and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater,
11so is my word that comes from my mouth;
it does not return to me empty.
Instead, it does what I want,
and accomplishes what I intend.

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