But you, dear
friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep
yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
to bring you to eternal life.
To
him who is able to
keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to
the only God our
Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Jude 1:20-22;24-25
This
isn’t the story I thought I’d write. This weekend, I planned to attend a gallery showing
honoring artists whose work helped them overcome personal challenges. Since writing saved my
life, since learning to write myself through and out of scary
places by lighting my own candles in the darkness, I wanted to participate in
the many ways God places beauty in the hands and hearts of fellow sojourners to
carry them through their personal storms. That was the story I planned, but
that wasn’t God’s plan. (Remember “man
appoints, God disappoints?)
My
day was full and busy, but, as is often the case when we are wanting to see
God’s Hand in our plan, things kept falling in line. I’m already in trouble
with no malicious intent, because I am suffering the dangerous effects of a faulty
premise. About this, author L.
Vincent Poupard writes,
 |
| God does answer every prayer... just not always the way that we want. Build, Pray, Keep. TWEET SOME KNOWLEDGE |
When we pray, we all hope that all of our prayers are
answered in the way that we want. We do everything that we can to
promise God that we will do whatever is wanted as long as we what we are asking
for.
Sometimes we believe that God is not answering our prayers
because we do not see our lives changing. God
does answer every prayer that we make, just not always the way that we want.
Our
daughter had plans for the evening, we made arrangements for our son and we
headed into the City. We headed into the City on a Saturday night; traffic was
light. We headed into the City on a Saturday night, neither congestion nor
construction, and found free, legal parking just half a block from our
location. A friend working on the event, was texting regular updates. My
beloved and I felt young, carefree, happily together. Arriving at the location,
I checked my phone. Final update, “the elevator is broken. We’re on the 10th
floor.”
Calmly,
still feeling in control, we looked for the freight elevator and Plan B. You
see, I’d been invited to write about the event, and that hadn’t happened before
now. I was only 10 floors away, but that
wasn’t God’s plan. I’d looked forward to meeting new people, and thought maybe
this might be a door God opened for me to walk through. That wasn’t God’s plan.
Luke warns us to beware ambition (Luke 9:25). Here I thought my writing was
about to get a big shot in the arm. Only 10 stories above where we stood might
be my next big thing. That wasn’t God’s plan.
Clearly
my beloved was not
about to walk 10 stories in a pre-war building.
Clearly I wasn’t going anywhere without him. And that was that.
Sometimes
the test is “how much do you want it?” Sometimes the test is “what will you do
to make your dream come alive?” Sometimes the test is...“How much do you Trust
Me?”
I was
clear in an instant. You see, this is my year to surrender
to The One. This is my year to declare that if a blessing comes, in whatever
form it comes, it comes straight from My Father’s Hands. While there might be
times to give prayer a push, when every now and then we’ve got a right to channel
Jacob and put up a fight, this wasn’t that time. This wasn’t that plan. SURRENDER.
In big letters, just like the Wizard of Oz.
Hand
in hand, we strolled out of the lovely pre-war building where magnificent
people and their powerful works of art waited 10 stories up, but not for us. We
ambled slowly, deeply in love and delightfully happy to be together, into a New
York summer sunset. We had a lovely evening. Alone. Just my beloved, and me,
and God.
My
dream is still there, waiting to be chased. I will build, and I will pray. I will
also keep…
· ...precious moments close to my heart
· ... my eyes on the wonderful things HE has already
placed in my path
· ... enjoying my right now(s)
· ...my eyes on Him
· ...myself in His Love as I wait
So,
as Miss Scarlet might say, “tomorrow is another day.” I will chase that dream
until He lets me catch it. Or until He sends something better instead.
Meanwhile, I will chase Grace, and Peace, and God.
So,
as said Jude,
To him who is
able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious
presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our
Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
On
Wednesdays, I pray and and play with friends here...
