Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.
Kinda weird that this verse would come up in this morning’s Bible reading. It is one of my life verses because of the way it so accurately describes my life! This morning before I opened my Kindle to ready the Yearly Bible I was thinking about the radio show I had in Tucson. It was a good show. The ratings were the best on the station (so I heard) and the owner expanded it from one hour to two because of its success. I really loved it! Interviewing local, state and national political figures. Getting guests to talk about technology and other things. Having fun with my guests and producer on the show. Even though I wasn’t making a lot of money it was enough to get by. Then something happened. The owners sold the station! The new owners didn’t pick up my show. I was cancelled. I was also a little angry about it. Turns out, if I hadn’t lost the show I never would have applied for the Political Director job with the state GOP. That job grew me in so many ways, paid well, and eventually led me to a place where I could move back to Lubbock to be with my Mom in the last six weeks of her life.
This is just one of many examples I could give. Me making plans. God directing me to places and experiences to grow me in Him. It’s been very difficult at times, but without the tragedy and the hurt I wouldn’t have had to rely on God the way I did. He showed me time and time again how faithful He is even when I am not! It is a lesson wrapped up in dozens (probably hundreds) of little lessons. The result? I know I can trust Him. The times and the ways He has shown up in my life even (especially) when I didn’t understand why my plans were not the direction God wanted me to go.
More importantly, sometimes my plans were not Godly plans. Often selfish, even destructive. My struggles with alcohol is an excellent example. While my intention wasn’t to die, my actions certainly should have resulted in physical death. God had other plans. Even though I have caused myself and those around me harm, God has shown me mercy. He has also shown me the consequences of my selfish choices. He is good like that.
While I am far from perfect, I know that God is for me. He is teaching me. He is blessing me! I pray to make me a blessing despite myself. So if you see God changing your plans, trust Him. He knows what He is doing! He has a good plan for your life! Even if the journey is sometimes difficult, God is using the good times and the bad times to refine you. To make you more like His Son. So you may bear fruit, much fruit, and fruit that remains.