I love to plan! Maybe you do too. I make lists, menus, and schedules and outline my days, weeks, and months in an orderly fashion. In fact, I like making schedules so much that I make them for my husband and daughter too, whether they want them or not!
It makes me happy to see everything all lined up, clearly written, and compartmentalized. When I’m done, what I have written down looks beautiful, seems logical, and makes total sense. Until it doesn’t. It makes me feel like I’m in control of my own little, well-planned world. Until I’m not.
Invariably, we get up late, someone calls with an emergency, or a non-emergency, what I thought would only take half an hour takes a whole hour, I’m missing an ingredient for my meal, or it could be any number of interruptions that we all experience each day. None of these things are necessarily bad or even unpleasant, they just mean that my perfect schedule really isn’t quite so perfect. It means that God has a different plan for my day. In the midst of what, to me, seems to be unplanned chaos, God is completely in control and is ordering my day in a way that suits His plans and purpose for my life.
Isaiah 46:10b says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” God has a purpose for my life that supersedes my limited understanding. None of my lists or schedules can ever be grand enough to encompass what He has in store for me each day. It is often in the throwing aside of my schedule that I encounter God in His wonder and beauty, in the grandeur of a sunset or sunrise, a word of encouragement from an unplanned conversation with a friend, or a moment of solitude alone in the car.
I used to view planning as a way to get as much as possible accomplished in the shortest amount of time. God is teaching me how to no longer view my planning in this way. Time and again, I’ve felt God’s hand in my ruined plans. It seems like He knows I need a rest and He has often created space in my schedule when I didn’t care enough to make space for myself.
It took me a long time to accept that it was okay to not be upset when my schedule went off course. It doesn’t mean that I have failed. It just means that I am not in control. I can still take pleasure in planning and it adds value to my life, but I hold my plans loosely. I don’t get the final say in the way my day goes. That belongs to God.
Taking it Further:
How do you handle it when your carefully planned schedule begins to go off course? What has God taught you through this process? Comment below.
