PACKING AWAY MY PLANS

Packed away my plans, 

turning them into prayers above. 

For God knows best;

His plan is wrapped with love.

Let’s not put God in a box. 

I need God… 

We need God…

through and for everything. 

So we may be going into this new year differently but with the SAME GOD. He never changes! Let’s seek Him first… 

 ♡“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬)

We can’t fit what God is doing into a box! We can’t put Him in a box! Of course, I would like to think we don’t do it deliberately, but how often we can set our own limits on what He can do. 

God is limitless!
“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”

(Psalms‬ ‭147‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

For He takes us places we cannot begin to imagine both figuratively and literally. If we listen… 

If we obey… 

If we walk in faith not by sight…

If we trust… 

We can lean into His strength for it all and through it all.

“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV)‬‬

Content in all things  ♡

Strength in all things ♡

So why do I worry for a second if I can do all things in His strength?

I think for me the battle has been in the surrender. In the … but what if this is not from the Lord? How will I do it? 

In the stubbornness and pride and in the humbling process of just letting it ALL go!

Why wouldn’t I want to?

Why wouldn’t I want what God has for me? His perfect plan!

It makes me think of all my past relationships and how during some of them, I had really wanted them to last. I mourned their endings and almost begged the Lord to have them work out. All to be brought to the place and time of meeting my now-husband and understanding why God said no to the others. Thank You Lord!

His perfect plans.

His perfect way.

He truly knows best and even when we fight it, He stands by our side providing love, mercy and grace. He provides everything we need even in the times we feel like our plans are crumbling and quite honestly, they may be. But God’s are greater! They are better! They will lead us to abundantly more if we surrender. Surrender isn’t such a negative word after all, is it? The world paints it that way because it distorted its true meaning. Surrendering to the Lord is strength…

But it’s not always easy to do? Right? To fully surrender the control… I find comfort in the truth that it was never promised to be easy, but God promises to be by our sides. So why wouldn’t I want to go where He is leading me? He is with me.

♡ True, short story: We planned a trip around Christmas to our favorite beach location as a getaway. Pulled the kids out of school a couple days early, brought the pup and drove hours all for it… to RAIN the entire time, cancelling all the activities we had planned to do/see. 

But God had other plans… 

He guided us to have family time away from the distractions and busyness, allowing us to visit other wonderful opportunities we otherwise would not have been able to like visiting the zoo and a fun amusement park we had never been to. (Side note and tip: Bundle up and go visit a zoo on an overcast, colder day and as we learned, you can see so many more animals than on a typically crowded day. Well, at least this was the case with us.)

But back to the mindset shift…

that time really gave me a deeper perspective on gratitude, priorities and mindset. 

So why did I tell that story?

Well, it was a simple illustration of trusting God even when the circumstances do not go our way.

For those times, we may begin to ask, “Why did you take me here Lord?”

Or even, “How did I get here?”

I think of so many people in the Bible such as Joseph and David. I think of how they were in terrible places and conditions beyond which I can even imagine. I think about how even in their waiting for years for the promises, they found ways and comfort in praising the Lord. During those times, when the flesh wants to cry out, “Why did you take me here Lord?” may we remember to pray, praise and trust. May we remember that even when we can’t understand it, and many times we won’t, that…

God’s ways are greater! So even when and if we listen and get to a place where we believed He was leading us… only to arrive at POURING RAIN, may we trust. May we know, He is in those details too watering our paths with blessings, growing strength & a divine perspective that cannot be put into a box. (I mean how much larger can a tree grow when it is planted outside on the firm foundation of fertile soil instead of being left in a planter’s box on our shelf? Right?)

We need space to grow. And sometimes, or many times, we need to step outside our comfortable spaces or even our current, common space to GROW. God knows how to lovingly do that, and guides us to do that, if we listen, if we follow the prompts. Therefore…

Let’s think outside of the box today. Let’s trust and know what the Lord has planned for us is always best. 

And it is certainly not always easy to do when we are talking about life goals. I have dreams and goals. Surrender doesn’t mean we are giving up on them. It means we are stepping it to them, stepping into the Lord’s strength. We will exhaust ourselves trying to run and reach, striving for what is not for us. But when we say to God, “I want what you want for me. Here is what I think I should do and strive for BUT what do You say. What do You want for me Lord…” we invite Him in.

He is always there. He has a perfect plan but He won’t force us. He gave us free will. So we decide what and Who we seek in the planning. May it be seeking the Lord first.

And when we do, may we pause long enough to listen…

So The Art of a Messy House challenge is to reflect on it, to ask God…

Where are Your leading me today Lord?

Think back too… 

Has God led you somewhere unexpected in the past that turned into unexpected blessings? Dwell in His presence. Trust in His plans even when it leads outside the comfort zones and boxes of life.

In addition to those reflections, if we need more clarity, prayer and fasting are key. Learn more about fasting, fast with your church, find a fast that works for you. (For example, right now as my church does 3 weeks of optional fasting, my version looks differently because of breastfeeding.) Fasting allows us though to fix our focus and remove what we are relying on too much, what we are turning to too much and to turn to the Lord first instead. It helps us align our priorities to God.

“When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.”‭‭(Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭18‬)

Our mouths can run wild when we try to do it in our own strength. Therefore, we must seek His will to align our priorities with His plans to experience His power. With the start of a new year (or at any point), it is a perfect time to do this and to reflect on prioritizing. Asking ourselves this:

What is one thing the Lord wants us to do less of? What is one thing He wants us to do more of?

Let’s pack away our plans into prayers, surrendered to the Lord right here right now.

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬)

Dear God,

You have the best plans. You have the best plan. You are limitless. Forgive the limitations I place on my life. I surrender my control. I trust and step. I step and trust. You know my heart. You hear my prayers. And through it all, You know best. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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