When God makes plans…

Posted by Alan Knox on Jun 2, 2007 in discipleship | 5 comments

We made such good plans for Saturday. But, God had better plans. You see, a friend of ours had asked if we would host her birthday party Saturday evening. Her family and friends were coming into town, and her apartment would not hold them all. So, we gladly offered our home for her party. We were happy to be part of her birthday celebration.

So, we made such good plans for Saturday morning and afternoon. I planned to mow the grass Saturday morning. Then, on Saturday afternoon, we would all clean the house and prepare for the party. We were looking forward to being able to show hospitality to our friend and her family and friends. We were excited that God had given us this opportunity to serve them. We made such good plans.

Friday evening, a good friend of ours surprised us by asking if she could keep our children Friday night. She has children the same age as our children, and our children were thrilled with the opportunity to spend then night with them. So, while we were thinking about serving someone else, God provided someone to serve me and my wife. We were able to spend all of Friday evening alone. What a great God we serve!

We made such good plans for Saturday. As I was preparing to mow the grass on Saturday morning, another friend called. Her oldest son had been hurt and she needed to take him to the doctor’s office. Could we watch her other three boys? We were very happy to watch her boys. It turns out that the oldest son needed to go to the hospital for x-rays, but they returned home by early afternoon. So, again, God provided us a way to serve someone in need – even while we were being served! What a great God we serve!

As my wife kept the three boys, I began to mow the grass. While I was mowing the grass, I received a phone call from another friend. He was grieving because he had just found out that a close friend of his died the night before. I stopped mowing the grass for a while so I could go to his house and spend time comforting this brother. I think that God is going to use him to comfort the family of the man who died. But, for now, this brother just needed to grieve. Again, God used me in a way that I did not expect – and mainly all I did was listen. What a great God we serve!

We made such good plans for Saturday. I finished mowing the lawn. We finished cleaning the house and preparing for the birthday party. Our friend arrived with her family and friends. We had a great time celebrating with them.

We made such good plans for Saturday. But, as I look back over this day, I realize that the plans that God made for us were much better than the plans that we made. God is teaching us look to him – to look for the plans that he’s made – and not to schedule his plans out of our lives. Yes, mowing the grass and cleaning the house were important. But, our plans were not as important as the plans that God made. When God makes plans, we should be ready.