I’m sitting down to write this morning and I can’t help but be so filled with thankfulness for the recent bout of sunshine and warmer weather we have been having here in NH. The Winter here was long and harsh this year and it seemed it might never end (insert dramatic music dun, dun dun!). Obviously we all knew that the Winter would eventually turn to Spring and the warmer weather would come along in due time. It’s amazing how many things in life God allows to happen just by time passing. Seasons change on their own. There is no way to speed up that process or slow it down. It is one way I am reminded of God’s sovereignty. He set the world in motion and we are still living in the patterns that he put into place at the beginning of time.

The weather this year makes me reflect on how we forecast the seasons changing ahead of time. We may think we know what’s coming, but even with all of our modern technology we can only take an estimated guess (and sometimes not that great of a guess at all) as to what the weather will do in advance. Even with all our fancy equipment not one person could have told you exactly what day the last snowfall would be this year a month before it happened, even a few days ahead for that matter. We like to think we can plan for the future and predict the outcomes but really we have no idea. Is there anything in your life you like to play the game of prediction on? I can only think of 298307357938275 times I have tried to play meteorologist in my own life, only end up with results about as accurate as the current weather forecast.

Now I don’t think there is anything wrong with making an estimation of what is ahead. In fact I believe it would be quite foolish if we never attempted to forecast and instead were taken completely by surprise each day of what is to come. Scripture even tells us to plan ahead. It is wise to count the cost of what is to come and to prepare for what God has placed on your heart.

Proverbs 21:5 “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”

Luke 14:28-30 “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

So we see in these verses that we are to be diligent and to plan ahead. How do we do this but not run into the trap of living our life based on our own predictions or forecast of what is to come? Ah, the heart question. It’s all about motive and submission. Check out how James puts it in the passage below:

James 4:13-15 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.””

James sums it up perfectly in that we are to put the Lord first and acknowledge Him in our plans. We may believe God has placed something on our heart, and that is great to know your fathers voice and hear his call! You should follow that, but know that we are human and can make errors in what God is saying as well so proceed with cautious anticipation and with a mind that is open to change along the way. What I mean is, don’t be so set on what you think the future will look like that you miss God’s prompting along the way.

I think a lot of times we can get so focused on what we are “doing” for God that we forget that it really is all about “being”. He does ask us to plan and to put our time to good use so there are things to be done, but it’s really about the bigger picture. He isn’t looking for us to check off items on our list of evangelism and tasks He is looking for our hearts to be fully engaged with Him and for our lives to be fluid as a proclamation of His love for us all. Let us not allow our own fleshly rigidity and preconceived notions of this life become a stumbling block that holds back the power of Christ in us.

Remember when things don’t go to plan, that might be just the plan God has to show this broken world His mercy, grace, and love in real time. Let your heart be moldable, malleable, and moved by the Spirit in all things.

Father you are so gentle with your children. Your tender loving kindness is so overwhelming and your provision in all things is unmatched. You know us all so well and you care for us each with the insight that can only be of the One who created each and every one of us. You know us so intimately and you love is everlasting. Let us be vessels of your great love and help us to exemplify your mercy in a world where peace is so easily lost. Help us to know your will through our days here and to keep our eyes and minds set fast on you. We just want to follow you and know you more as we pass through this world which is not our home. Let our lives be living proof of the good news. In Jesus name, Amen.