His Plans Are Always Better
Before I came to college I dreamt of getting my nursing degree and becoming a full time missionary. I took my first steps by coming to college where I met my husband at church my freshman year. We joined our hearts and our lives together with high hopes of great accomplishments in the future.
When my husband and I first got together we planned on getting married, going to bible college & going onto the mission field. We pursued the bible college we felt led to go to and it closed down suddenly because of a moral failure of it's leader. My husband's family disintegrated in divorce in the months leading up to our wedding day keeping us close to home because of the family crisis. So, our plans shifted. Instead of heading off to bible college & the "mission field", we got married & began working to pay the bills and decided to start our family. There we stayed right in our hometown faithfully loving each other, working, raising our children & loving the people of our local church. We tried a couple different of times over the years to go to bible college and go into "full-time ministry" but it never came together... God had different plans.
The wonderful thing about walking with God in life is how he directs our paths. We think we know what direction to head, what plans to make, what great things to do! He walks along side of us tweaking and "hemming us in" on the right and the left in front and behind to give us not the life that we "wanted" but the best life of all! 99% of the time our lives do not turn out like we think they will and we are so much better because they don't!
Having walked with Him for 35 years and looking back on His woven path of faithfulness, instead of "wanting" and "striving" now.. my heart says to simply put my inner tube into His river & let Him take me where He wills.
Help us to "let go" of our ambitions, reminding ourselves that You, Father, have a will for this world and for each of us in it. That is what matters. Help us to let go of striving to be what we think would be "amazing" and instead look around and listen to that still, small voice, telling us what it means "today" to be faithful & watch you create a life better than we ever imagined.