Nancy Hughes: When God's plan and mine don't match

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is
the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)

My afternoon was perfectly planned. My list was written down and as each errand was completed, I scratched it off with a flourish. Nothing could stop me as I raced through what I needed to get done in order for the day – and my list – to be completed.

One more stop and then I could hurry home, to make more lists and repeat the same routine the next day. Oh, but God had a different plan.

I grabbed my one item at the grocery store – my last stop – and impatiently looked over the check out lines until I saw the shortest one and made my way toward Lane 2 as quickly as I could. That’s when I saw him.

He was a former student of mine who was always respectful and polite but also one that I knew struggled on the edge between good and not-so-good choices. He had been on my mind several times but I had not seen him for months. The Lord quietly nudged me.

Suddenly my plan to finish my list and rush to get home ceased to matter. I gave him a hug when he looked my way and asked how he was doing. He muttered a noncommittal answer but waited until I got checked out to walk outside with me.

As we walked, he told me the latest in his life. My heart wanted to cry as he shared the trouble he had gotten into and what he was doing now. After a few minutes we said our goodbyes but not before I told him that I loved him and was praying for him. He shrugged at the prayer comment but smiled and said “Love you, too.”

How wise are the words in Proverbs 19:21. We plan every single minute of our lives, from the second we get up until we go to bed and even then we lay there, planning our list for the next day. It’s as if we are afraid to stop, take a deep breath, and simply allow the Lord to direct our tomorrow.

I could have waved, said “hi” and hurried on so my plan would not have been altered. But I believe that God is sovereign over our lives and that His plan that day was designed to include a meeting with my student on Lane 2.

My heart cries when I think of all the opportunities the Lord has placed in my path and my “not your plan but mine” attitude that has kept me from simply encouraging one of His children.

May we never get so busy being busy with our plans that we ignore God’s plan for us to show His love to those who are hurting and searching. Even in a grocery store.

Father, may your plan be my plan every day. I do not want to miss your direction and will for my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Have you seen someone and felt that you needed to talk to them but didn’t take the time to do that?

• If you didn’t talk with them, why not? Did you have a plan of your own that you needed to complete?

Apply

• Make a list of everything that you feel you need to accomplish for one day.

• Beside each of those items, write down the worst thing that can happen if you choose to share Jesus instead of complete those things on your list.

Power

• Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

• I Timothy 2:1 (NIV) “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone . . .”

• Proverbs 16:33 (NIV) “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)