My Plans vs. His Purpose....

*Today I would like to share with you a small portion of the teaching lecture I delivered to my CBS class this week....
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The bible, unlike any other book, is not just a story -It is God’s story.

It isn’t just non-fiction - It is truth in it’s purest form.

It is not just inspirational - it is where our joy is found.

It is not a self-help manual but a promise for restoration.

It covers many different time periods, locations and people. And just as God has given us the written record of these people of the past His story continues today as He is writing each one of us into that story even now.

As Thanksgiving ended and the Christmas season began I had a lot of plans for how I would spend my holiday.....

--I knew my husband and I were going on a cruise that he had won at work.

---Christmas was coming so I knew I had shopping, wrapping and cooking to do.

---I was expecting to spend a lot of time working ahead in my bible study.

---I had boxes of Christmas decorations I intended to unpack.

---And I had anticipated spending some quality time with my kids.

But as life would have it things didn’t turn out quite like I had planned. Proverbs says- “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails” and I can honestly say that has been my experience over the last few weeks.

As for the cruise, I got seasick...

And everything else I had planned was interrupted by a 3 am. phone call the week before Christmas.

--My Dad, who was living in Maine, had been injured in an accident and would I give the hospital permission for treatment?

--Another phone call that there was nothing they could do and did I want them to remove the tube that was helping him breathe?

--A final phone call that he was gone and since he had made no final arrangements that was now up to me and my sister.

Sometimes the pages of our life story are tragic and painful. This wouldn’t have been the story I would have written for myself or my Dad but I am not the author of my own story, God is and He has promised that through my experiences and through my pain His purpose will prevail.

The question is “do I trust Him as the author of my life?" Will I relinquish my attempts to “rewrite” what God wants to speak to me and through me. Hagar and Ishmael are an example of what happens when we try to Co-author with God or write the story the way we think it should be.

It is easy to worship and praise God when our lives are going smoothly and we are successful but what about when life takes a sudden or unexpected turn? When there is an illness or job loss?
When the economy is failing or when things become difficult and are not going the way you want them to will you trust Him with the story?

When I first got the call from the hospital I remember thinking “I can’t do this” but then immediately my mind was flooded with the thought: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Since then I have found myself doing things I never would have imagined I could do. Things like donating tissue, arranging cremation, writing an obituary, planning a memorial service and delivering a eulogy. And in all of this I can honestly say that "His abundant grace was more than enough!"

The story God is telling is one that has included all kinds of time periods, settings, characters, drama, action & sub - plots. Each and every one of us is a part of that story but in the big picture there was one beginning and there will be one ending.

"In the beginning God created the heaven’s and the earth” Genesis 1:1

and someday

“the heaven’s will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”

One day God will write the final chapter of our life stories. So let me ask you…..

--What are the things you will be leaving behind and who will you leave them to?

--How will you be remembered?

--Will your legacy be one of sadness and regret or will it be one of faith & hope?

These decisions are not ours to make after we die but instead they depend on how we live our lives now. God never promised it would be easy, in fact Jesus himself said “in this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.” And what exactly does that mean? It means that through Jesus God has already written the end to our story and we can trust Him with all of the details in between.