My Plans?

by Michele Boy | April 20, 2023

Here we are again. I am sitting writing this on a Wednesday morning bracing for another round of high winds, dirt, dust, no rain in sight, crops failing or failed. Will it rain again? It has to right? 
When I drove through Oklahoma the dirt looked like powder and the ditches were filled. 
I didn’t see hope. I saw the Dirty 30s. And I was saddened. 
  Then, I saw a piece on Charles Barkley, a former player on the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA. He said in high school, he was a small point guard who never really played much varsity ball. As a junior he was 5’10” and didn’t make the Varsity team. But one summer he grew to 6’4” and played his senior year and did well. 
But he credits his time as the small point guard for learning to be fast on his feet and dribbling down the court well. 
   It reminded me of all the times are dreams are stuck on hold, we are being dealt a hand that doesn’t seem fair, or we are further behind that we think we should be. 
  Maybe that time is for building and growing skills which will help us in the future. Maybe that setback or hold is creating a skill or strengthening you for something coming up.
How do we handle that? Complain? Force it? Or continue on with learning and growing. 
Maybe it’s trusting you are exactly where God wants you to be. Or maybe things are so bad because God wants you to listen to Him and break out of the situation you are in. 
Maybe you are being stretched. 
 All those uncomfortable situations don’t feel good but are they more palatable when we see a bigger picture?
 I do better when my focus is on the goal not the pain. 
  But what if we don’t see a goal or a plan? Maybe that is the time for faith, for trust in God. 
  You know that saying if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans?
 I saw a cartoon that had two plans, mine and God’s. Mine was a straight line to the goal. God’s was filled with twists and turns. 
 How often have you read a book or movie and thought, “Come on, just get there already?”
 Maybe the hardships make us grow. Maybe the strength and the fortitude comes from when it all falls apart. 
 I don’t have the answers but I can see I have grown in my lifetime. 
 Some things that were incredibly hard made me stronger. 
 My plan would be boring. God’s plan is like a novel. It has plot twists, character development, action, and more.
 So which would you choose? 
The movie Parenthood has a scene in it when the grandma said something like - people like the ferris wheel, but that just goes round and round. I like the roller coaster with the highs and the lows. 
  Wherever you are today, I hope you have enough good in your life to smile, enough challenges to grow, and enough adventure to keep you excited.
 Maybe the plan you had isn’t working on your timeline. But maybe something even better is coming!
 And who knows, maybe it will rain again? It has to, right?