When Our Plans Go Awry

     Back in January, I had successful partial replacement of my left knee.  I completed therapy just before the COVID lockdown.  In fact, I had the surgery so I could be ready for a cruise we planned to take with our daughter and her family in March.  Thankfully, we were able to get a refund on our cancelled cruise, and we were so grateful we were not stuck on a ship somewhere in a port.  We certainly had made our plans carefully a full year in advance, but as we all know, things happen.

     Recently, while out on a walk, I started having a lot of pain in my post op knee requiring me to consult

my surgeon.  It seems I somehow injured the outside of the knee that had not been replaced.  Now I am faced with new problems and a need for a wise decision none of which was expected or planned.  Isn't it funny that life happens while we are making other plans?  The Bible even agrees with this.  Proverbs 16:9 tells us:  "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."  Then, in Proverbs 19:21, we read:  "Many plans are in a man's heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail."  Finally in Jeremiah 10:23 says:  "I know, O LORD, that a man's way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps."  There we have it.  The final say on the course of our lives is really not in our hands at all but in God's hands.

     Honestly, I cannot say why things happen the way they do.  We all wonder why this terrible virus was unleashed on the world.  What purpose could it possibly serve?  Or why did "so and so" have to die when they did?  There are many questions that we have no answers to even though we look high and low.  Yet, we have to remember several things.

     First, we live in a fallen world.  The once beautiful paradise that Adam and Even inhabited had no flaws, problems, or challenges.  They were created to care for the creatures and tend God's creation.  Both of them were the crown of all the Lord had made.  Then Satan entered the picture in the form of a snake and beguiled Eve painting her a picture of a God who was holding out on them and did not want them to have His wisdom.  We know the rest of the story.  Eve took the first bite of the forbidden fruit followed by Adam.  The ramifications of their actions have been with us ever since.  They were cast from the garden and told:  ....."cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:17c-19).  To the woman, God said she would bear children in pain.  All of this due to disobedience, and we, their children, inherit not only their sin nature but also the curse of a fallen creation.  Therefore, life is not going to be easy.  We will have difficulties in this world and Jesus affirmed that to us in His Word (John 16:33).  But...the promise is that Jesus Christ will come again, and those who belong to Him will live with Him in a new heaven and a new earth with no more weeping, heartache and loss.

     Secondly, we often cannot see the bigger picture of what God is doing when trials come our way.  We see as "through a glass darkly" (I Corinthians 13:12) like the Apostle Paul said.  We only know in part what God is doing.  He hasn't told us everything.  Instead, we are to trust in Him who is the Sovereign over all the earth.  He is "working all things together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28).  We may not be able to see it yet, but this is what faith is all about "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).  Let me illustrate.

     When I work on embroidery, I am looking at the top of my work where I make different types of stitches to paint a picture with thread.  As I work, the picture emerges and looks beautiful.  However, if we examine the bottom side of my creation, all we see is knots, and threads that don't resemble any lovely picture.  We, as God's creation, see life like that from the bottom side of the work.  We don't have the Lord's perspective.  What looks like a knot to us may be a beautiful beginning in God's plan.  This is why we are called to trust the Master artist of our lives.

     Finally, we must remember that the life we have been given was for the purpose of God's glory not ours.  I think that is the hardest part for the self centered sin nature we are born with in this life.  It's not about us....it's all about God!  The first question of the Catechism says:  "What is the chief end of man?" (Westminster Catechism).  Answer:  "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever."  With this in mind, we can accept the plan changes, fast detours, sudden stops and inconveniences that come with this journey here.  God is preparing us for an eternity with Him in heaven where our citizenship lies.  This is not our home for we are passing through needing the daily guidance of the Holy Spirit.  So, if your plans, like mine, go awry, remember that He is putting together a great masterpiece which we simply cannot see yet.  We must trust Him just as Jeremiah said in one of my favorite verses 29:11:  "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."  Selah!

Adapting Our Message Without Compromising

          One of the things we all have to learn in life is how to adapt gracefully to change.  As we all know, nothing stays the same forever.  I remember finding a Bible that my grandfather wrote in one Christmas long ago.  He told of how happy he was that the entire family was gathered together and wished that it could be this way forever.  How many of us have felt the same way when we are enjoying a special time?  Yet, sadly, we cannot stop the march of time.

Children grow up and begin their own journeys.  Friends move away or change in such a way that we hardly know them any more.  However, I love the attitude of the Apostle Paul.

 

     In his letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul writes in I Corinthians 9:19-23:  “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”

 

     Within this passage, we see a man who has learned to adapt himself but not compromise himself.  This is how we face change in life.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to become “all things to all people” for the purpose of winning them to Christ…not manipulation or any other motive.  Paul was well aware that situations, circumstances and people are ever changing.  Nevertheless, he was able to adapt without giving in or compromising his values.  That is the key for us as well.

 

     What has happened throughout the church today is that many have learned to compromise their belief system in order to avoid making waves.  This has diluted the message of the gospel rather than strengthened it.   Paul, on the other hand, adapted his message and lifestyle without giving up the Christian worldview in the process.  He was able to converse with the weak, other Jews, and Gentiles to name a few.  His flexibility to change was the result of His trust in God to fill his mouth with the right words at the right time.

 

     One of the key things that I believe Paul understood was that no one can change another person by a direct action on our part.  We can really only change ourselves.  It is even impossible to do that outside of Christ!  However, with the Holy Spirit residing in us, we are more than capable of demonstrating love and the fruits of great character that we otherwise would have trouble modeling to others.

 

     This much we know.  Change is inevitable in life, but how we respond to it is not.  When we are walking by God’s Spirit, we are able to adapt rather than compromise our beliefs.  Let us strive to become all things to all people that we might win them without losing any of the godly principles upon which our life is built.  This will bring glory and honor to God as we live this way.  Selah!

 

     Father, never let us compromise our beliefs and become like the world.  You have called us to walk in this world but not be a part of it.  May we have the right words to say and the right actions as we share with others the Good News of Jesus Christ.  May we never compromise for the sake of political correctness, but give us strength to stand for the truth in the face of change.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.