Category: God’s sovereignty

When Your Plans Are Interrupted

Lisa Preuett

Ever make plans to do something only to have those plans come to a screeching halt? You think you’re going to accomplish a desired task and then something happens, totally taking you in a different direction. Last week was crazy for us as it started out with my husband losing his job unexpectedly. (Read my post here for a fresh perspective of that day: (https://reststopforthesoul.com/2014/06/24/shocked-but-not-shaken)

The week continued in such a way, that every time I planned to do something, my plans were totally interrupted:

We’d planned to spend the day at the pool with our son and his girlfriend, but then their car broke down. Interruption!

Hurrying out the door, I’d planned to go for a long run in my neighborhood, but then the phone rang and it turned into a 30 minute conversation. Interruption!

I had a long overdue hair appointment, but the friend who does my hair had a family emergency come up and she had to cancel. Interruption!

We’d just put our boat in the lake Friday evening to join friends on their jet ski, but then it rained. Interruption!

It’s one thing if my plans are interrupted once in a while, but it’s another when it happens multiple times over the course of several days! There might be something God is trying to teach me. He has my attention. I’d better be listening.

God is certainly teaching me that I am not in control. It’s not wrong to plan things and organize the time He’s given us, but if I hold too tightly to MY plans, I’m setting myself up for disappointment. If I don’t look to Him when these interruptions occur, I’m bound to be upset. Frustrated.  Angry. Demanding.

I am NOT in control, but I serve a God who is. He sees the bigger picture. He has a higher plan. And He knows exactly what I need. And what I’ve seen over the course of these few days of constant interruptions is that other people are in the picture too. IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!

In each of the situations I mentioned above, I could label it an interruption. But when I genuinely pray to see things through God’s perspective and ask Him to show me how to respond, something amazing happens. What I label as interruptions, God sometimes calls interventions. Yes, I can see these events as opportunities when God intervenes and redirects my paths. He then intervenes in my heart and sometimes in the hearts of those around me.

Let me walk you through these interruptions again, but this time, view them through a different lens. God’s lens of interventions:

When the car broke down we couldn’t go to the pool, but over the course of the next several hours, my husband and son got to spend some quality time together under the hood of a car. One-on-one time that would not have happened at a swimming pool. We also got to witness God’s amazing power unfold through prayer. As we were making plans to have the car towed, it suddenly started up. Intervention!

When I was going out the door for a run and the phone rang, it was a family member I hadn’t talked to in a long time. She encouraged me during a much-needed time as I shared with her our situation with Jim’s sudden job loss. Intervention!

After I finally got to complete my run, a neighbor was pulling into her driveway at the exact time I was turning to go home. She was having a challenging morning and needed some encouragement and prayer. If the phone call hadn’t come when it did to delay my run, I would have missed the opportunity. Intervention!

When my hair appointment had to be cancelled, it freed up my day to spend more time with a friend who needed encouragement and allowed me some much-needed time to work on a project I’d been putting off. Intervention!

When we were on the lake and it started to rain, our friends who were riding their jet ski boarded our boat to take cover. I got to spend some quality time connecting with my friend. Time we wouldn’t have had if she’d been on the jet ski. Intervention!

How many times have I missed God’s blessing and overlooked His interventions because I was so absorbed in my own plans? How many times have I missed connecting with someone because I was too angry about my plans being interrupted? How many times have I focused on myself to the point I couldn’t see someone else in need? How many times have I demanded Why God? Instead of  whispering What now God?

And so I ask you the same questions, dear friend: Will you allow God to show you His way when your plans are interrupted? Will you allow God to show you His perspective when life doesn’t go as planned? It might be something as trivial as a cancelled hair appointment or it might be something more serious like a sudden job loss. Whatever it might be, I want to encourage you and challenge you to look for what God is trying to teach you in those moments. It might be something he wants to refine in you. Or He may be re-directing your path so you can connect with someone else.

It’s challenging to always respond the right way when our plans are interrupted! We won’t always get it right every time. But I’m so glad I serve a God who is gracious, patient and loving enough to keep giving me opportunities to see His interventions for what they are….and not as interruptions.

Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s mind plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps.”

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God’s Timing is Not Ours!

Lisa Preuett

Proverbs 16:9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

The day had finally arrived. Surrounded by thousands of runners, I inched my way to the start line. Excitement and adrenaline pumping through my body, I came face-to-face with my first full marathon.

Don’t focus on your time.    Don’t focus on your pace.     Just finish the race.

These words rang out loud in my mind. After a minor setback with a strained muscle, I accepted the fact that my goal was to finish the race. Period. I found my unique rhythm: Run for five minutes. Walk for one minute. After several miles I found myself lingering at the numbers on my watch.

Once I’d reached the thirteen mile marker I felt a huge relief. I’m half way there!

Then I made the mistake of looking too intently at my watch again. I began calculating. Okay, it’s taken me 2 and a half hours to run half a marathon. (which is about average for me!) So I should be able to finish this thing in about 5 hours if I double that. Okay…I’ll even add an extra 30 minutes since I’ll probably go a bit slower at the end.

So in that moment I realistically figured I’d be done by 5 and a half hours for sure. Seemed like a logical expectation, right? But that was my first mistake…..I set up an expectation for something that was unknown.

I plugged along through the next seven miles without any problems. Excitement flowed through every fiber of my body as I approached mile marker 20. This was a turning point. The most I’d run during training was 20. Once I got past 20 miles I’d be venturing into unknown territory. Would my body be able to continue past this point?

Yes! I breathed a sigh of relief passing mile 21. But then I looked at my watch again. Okay…I’m taking a little bit longer according to my earlier calculations, but because I added that 30 minute buffer in there, I may still finish by 5 and a half hours.

Passing mile 22, I felt my left quad muscle shake. I slowed down. Then my right quad muscle did the same. My legs felt like jello.

At this point reality sunk in. If I wanted to complete the race, I had to let go of my expectation of finishing by a certain time. Changing my pace altogether, I started walking slowly. After half a mile, I attempted to run…slowly. My quads wobbled just after a minute!  So this was my new pace. Run one minute. Walk for five. Letting go of my expectations, I stopped focusing on my watch. God reminded me of my original goal. To finish a full marathon.

Turning the final corner, I inched my way across the finish line. It wasn’t in the time I expected. (almost 6 hours!) It didn’t matter what my watch said. It didn’t matter what I’d calculated at the half way mark. I had finished the race!

How often do we make plans according to our own human calculations? How often do we think life will go a certain way based upon what we’ve already experienced? Maybe we think we’ll reach a specific goal in a short time but then we realize it’s taking much longer. Or we expect God to resolve our conflict by a certain date.

He answered my previous prayer in less than a month, surely He’ll answer this one in the same way.

Maybe it took three months. Maybe it took a year. Or perhaps you’re still waiting.

We set ourselves up for disappointment when we expect things to happen in our timing. In our way. Peace would flow more freely in our lives if we trusted God’s timing more often. It’s hard! God’s ways are better than our ways. His timing is perfect. He is never late. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He is ultimately in control of everything.

Wherever you are in your race of life, I encourage you to trust His timing. Trust His ways. One step at a time.

READY? When in your life has an answered prayer come later than you expected? Where in your life are you struggling to trust God’s timing right now? Ask God to show you where you are attempting to take control and trust him to intervene in his timing.

GET SET. Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,” declares the Lord.

GO!  Dear Lord, I confess how I so often want things to go according to my own plans. I lose focus of who you really are and think I’m in control. Forgive me for attempting to make things happen in my timing. Help me to trust your timing and to rest in the truth of who you are. Amen

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Blessings to you!

Lisa Preuett

 

Blind Faith

Lisa Preuett

Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye upon you”

Just five more minutes and the race would start. Runners all around me were jogging in place to stay warm, setting stopwatches, taking start-line photos with smart phones and stretching one last time. My GPS watch was set. My eyes fixed ahead. Suddenly some runners to my left brushed up against me. I glanced over and noticed a young man with a rope tied to his waist. An older man in front of him tightly held the other end of the rope in his hand. The older man sported a bright-orange vest with the word Guide boldly printed on the back.  It was obvious the young man was blind. And he wasn’t a spectator… He was going to run the race. Wow! I couldn’t believe this man was going to run a half-marathon…..blind. He was completely at the mercy of his guide.

I avoid obstacles when I run. Patches of ice, cracked sidewalks, uneven pathways and scattered debris cause interference if you’re not watching closely. Sometimes other people get in the way as I’m trying to maneuver around them. But I have perfect vision! I can see where the road gets narrow or where an incline is waiting for me to push harder. Can you imagine running any distance blind? You’d have to possess a strong trust in the person guiding you to let them lead you like that.

Oh to have this kind of faith in our journey of life—with God as our guide!  The kind of faith that doesn’t doubt. The kind of faith that trusts completely. The kind of faith that says “Okay God, I can’t see what’s up ahead, but I trust you to lead me through this challenge. So often we’re guilty of untying the rope that connects us to God and decide to do things our own way. Thinking we know better and don’t need His help, we let go of the rope. Then we wonder later how we got off track and why we crashed and burned from something we didn’t see before. Why do we doubt? Why don’t we trust?

The blind runner wasn’t anxious. His beaming smile spoke volumes. Maybe he felt secure because he was firmly attached to his guide. The psalmist in today’s verse confidently states that God’s watchful eye is on us as He guides us.  Perhaps that’s the key to our security in God: to be firmly attached to Him. That means we fix our eyes on Him. We seek Him whole heartedly. We stay as close to Him as we can possibly get. If we truly do this, maybe we won’t be anxious. Then we can display a beaming smile for all around us to see. And when people are attracted to our joyous countenance, we can point them to our awesome guide.

Wherever you are, I encourage you to hold tightly to God. Whatever your struggle, He will show you the next step. Stay close to Him because He knows what’s up ahead. It might not be easy, but He promises to be with you every step of the way.

READY?  Is your rope tied tightly to your heavenly guide? Or is it starting to lose its grip? Do you trust God to help you navigate the unknown road up ahead? Can you identify times when you’ve let go of the rope? What were the consequences of letting go? Keep your rope tightly tied and stay close to your savior.

GET SET.  Psalm 25:4-6 “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

GO!  Lord God, I come before you and ask you to secure my rope tightly to your side. Help me keep it firmly tied and not be tempted to loosen its grip. I confess the times I’ve chosen to go my own way. Forgive my unbelief! Help me trust you when I can’t see what’s up ahead. Help me to rest securely in the fact that you are in control and you know what’s best for me. Thank you for directing my steps. Thank you for the hope you’ve promised. Amen

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Blessings to you!

Lisa Preuett

http://www.reststopforthesoul.com