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Our plans are carefully crafted, sometimes developed months or years in advance. We research them, discuss them, write them down, turn them into resolutions or life goals, and sacrifice much time and resources to guarantee they happen. Our plans are like pretty packages wrapped with ornate paper and embellished with ribbon and bows. They have been meticulously thought out. Like careful and intentional gifts, they’ve been placed under the tree, beneath the lights and ornaments, shining in their wrappers. Our plans have nicknames such as dreams, hopes, and pursuits. Our plans have plans!
When the time comes to unwrap our precisely planned plans, something inevitably happens. The beautiful wrapping paper and bows fall away. We lift the lids. What we find surprises us. Then, our surprise turns to heartache. Inside our packaged plans, we find disappointment. We find loss, pain, and hurt. We find wasted time, financial stress, and greed. Some of our plans are stale. They are downright boring. Some come late. Others are too early. Most of the plans hold no weight and meet no purpose. Our plans end up looking small, despite the grand packaging. Fear and worry have taken up real estate in the box too. Regret pokes his head out last and smiles at us.
We are undoubtedly confused. How did these ornately crafted and carefully wrapped plans end up so … insignificant? So … boring? How do these plans leave us feeling unfulfilled? We worked hard to ensure that our plans would be great. They were supposed to make us happy. They were supposed to make us feel important. They were supposed take us places. They had seemed so good!
Then, we see another box under the tree. It is wrapped with simple brown paper. It possesses no colorful ribbon or bows. From the outside, this gift seems unappealing and useless. First impressions would likely cause most people to neglect it until perhaps the end of the unwrapping chaos of Christmas morning. As we look at it, we discover a small split in the brown paper. We stare at the tear, still reeling from the disappointment of our own plans, and a light starts to shine from the hole in the brown paper…
The light gets brighter and we look at the tag. It’s a gift from our Father. We start to unwrap the brown paper. We remove one layer after another, and as we do, the light shines brighter and further, illuminating the whole room. We take the lid off this box, curious. We gasp in awe.
Inside this simply wrapped gift, we find His plans. They are filled with love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy. That’s not all. These plans scream adventure. His plans are overflowing with purpose. We feel the weight of significance, and we keep unpacking the contents of the box. We find contentment. We find goodness. We find patience. We find all the things we need today and for every day there after… Wisdom… Hope… Joy! The gifts are unending, and they come in His perfect timing. The light shines brighter and brighter, until we no longer see our box of plans. We only see His.
We only want His.
This Christmas season, I encourage you to spend some time taking a look back. Think about all of your carefully laid out plans through the years. What were they? How did they unfold? What transpired? Then, consider His plans. When you set aside your elaborate plans, pushed through the fear of the unknown, and followed Him, what adventures did you find? What purpose did you discover? How has your life changed? I’m convinced you’ll celebrate Christmas differently if you spend a few minutes and write it all out.
My Plans – Graduate with a Masters degree in Physical Therapy and make a more than comfortable living, watching the clock each day and working for the weekend
His Plans – Set aside my PT career and find explosive purpose and joy in serving the least of these in Haiti for two years and then again in writing and speaking about the story God is writing through my life
My Plans – Hoard financial security, saving relentlessly out of fear and greed, for a future I can’t see … or worse, buying material things (the bigger house, the nicer car, etc.) that don’t fill that deep place in my heart that feels empty
His Plans – Tithe, trusting Him with every piece of my life, including the financial piece and watching Him provide time and time again, strengthening my relationship with Him through trust. Give, generously and anonymously, loving others in their time of need and making a difference for God’s Kingdom
My Plans – Give birth
His Plans – Adopt two children who remind me every day what love really means
My Plans – Marry a man who will do no wrong and never hurt me, a man I can put on a pedestal and prioritize above all else
His Plans – Marry a man who will teach me about courage, faith, forgiveness, humility, sacrifice, meekness, love, and mercy, and remind me that Jesus is first and foremost above all else
My Plans – Live out the institution of marriage
His Plans – Believe in and live out the relationship of marriage
My Plans – Write fiction … or more likely, not at all
His Plans – Write a hybrid devotional/biography that will change the trajectory of marriages in crisis and encourage people in the midst of tragedy
My Plans – Live a safe, comfortable, prosperous life along the lines of the American dream and perhaps retire early, wondering what the point is
His Plans – Live a risk-filled, hope-filled, adventurous, meaningful, impactful life filled with authenticity, vulnerability, and purpose that leaves me longing for eternity with Him
Prayer: Father God, I am helplessly grateful that You are always good and always loving. I trust you with everything, even when those things seem bad or hard. I trust You because You are trustworthy. I pray that You would bless me in ways I don’t know I even need, showing me Your plans and Your purposes for me. Shine Your light on the path You want me to travel. I will do my best to walk in it. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Influenced by my prayer life, 1 Peter 4:10, James 1:17, Jeremiah 29:11, and Ephesians 2:8
My book, "Clay Jar Cracked," is available on Lulu.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retail sites, and including print, e-pub, nook, and kindle versions.
©2015 As a Clay Jar. All rights reserved.
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