As I sit at my desk and read over my Haiti itinerary and specifics of the trip for the 20th time I can’t help but be anxious about the week and contemplate the plan. I know we will have a full week with the drilling but I also know we will be given time to get to know those in the community we will be helping. My mind wanders to thinking about these times. What will it be like to be in a foreign county? What will it be like to be around others who do not speak the same language as I do? How will I communicate? How can I get to know them? Will I hear their stories? Will I understand their stories? How can I share with them the most important story of the love of Jesus Christ if we don’t speak the same language? My mind suddenly goes from contemplating the plan to worrying about the details of the plan! For me I love to plan things, in fact planning is kinda like a puzzle. Puzzles have a bunch of different pieces that all fit together in one way to form a perfect picture. If one piece is missing or not put in right the picture does not look as it is intended. This can be frustrating and leave me feeling upset because my plan or end result did not turn out the way I had…planned. I know it’s just a silly puzzle, I’m weird, get over it, but I think most of us can relate to this feeling in some aspect of our life. Maybe it’s a vacation that gets cancelled or a night out with friends which is cancelled due to a sick child. Maybe a new job that falls through or,my personal favorite, receiving some unexpected funds you thought you could use for something fun only to find out you need to use those funds to fix a broken down car. Who knows! My point is we all make plans or have expectations in life but these plans don’t always turn out the way we intended them to. I am reminded of Proverbs 16:9 which states,
“A man’s heart plans his way but the LORD directs his path.”
God wants us to make plans but He wants us to understand He is the one who is in control. Life will ALWAYS through us a curve ball. How we handle that curve is how we grow or fail.
As I look back to my trip now I will continue to make my plans, preparing my list of things to bring, going over in my head the things I want to say and the conversations I want to have but knowing I may never get the chance to use the things I prepared. God may have other things in mind for me so I need to remember Proverbs 16:9 and know that it is God who is in control and His future is far better than anything I can plan for. What about you? Do you have something that is not working out the way you thought? Take a step back and let God lead you, we can be assured His way is always the best way!
