Change

What do you do when... you just don't know? You don't know where you're going to live once your lease is up. You're not even sure that you will stay in the same zip code, let alone the same state! You might be looking to enroll in school, but you have no idea where to begin looking. You might be totally jobless, wondering what your next step is. Whatever the situation, it boils down to a lack of direction.

You just don't know.

Bummer!

Because really, who likes to be without direction? Certainly not moi! I need a Plan. With a capital "P" thank you very much! I need to know things in order to be comfortable with my future!


Putting the breaks on right here!


First of all, do we ever know what the future holds? All you people with the five and ten year plans out there (not that there's anything wrong with that): are you certain that you can attain those goals simply by your own doing? (I really hope your answer is no by the way!) If you said "yes" to that question, then one can only assume that you are anticipating that NOTHING will be getting in between you and your final destination. One could only assume that you don't expect to meet the man or woman of your dreams and marry (supposing that you're single of course), or that you don't plan on an *unexpected* pregnancy, or you don't expect to walk through an intersection two years from now, and God forbid, come face to face with a Mack truck. You don't know what's going to happen to you!!! I am going to also assume then, by the way, just because this is my blog and I can, that you are also not, and I repeat NOT letting God have control of your life. Reminds me of a song...

"JESUS take the wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel!"

So as I was saying, I need a Plan with a capital "P". But as I think I pointed out, plans are only good so long as you allow plenty of wiggle room for unexpected change. But what if we don't plan on something that could happen to us, rather we plan on something that happens by God's hand?

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;"

Proverbs 3:5. Love that verse. But there's a bit more:

"in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:6. Okay so let me get this straight. I have to:

a. Trust in the Lord
b. Lean not on my own understanding (that's a REALLY tough one by the way!)
c. ACKNOWLEDGE HIM in all my ways (yeesh! Can I really do that?!)

That sounds like a lot, but that's... very little if you look at the list. That's only three things that I need to work on in this area in order to have a straight path, a prosperous life, a right relationship with Him.

I want those things, don't you?

I'm certainly not saying that it's easy! But really, what's the point of worry anyway? Why worry about this future of ours that we have no control over in the first place? Should we make plans? Well of course! But all the while being prayerful and seeking God's will for each and every step of your life. That is important. To acknowledge Him, to seek Him in all your ways, in order to keep a straight path (to be in line with God's will for your life). You can't go wrong!

So anyway: worry. Pointless! Really, it is. I know, because I'm the Queen. ("All hail, Queen of Worry!) Worry is pointless, and it's a sin! If you're worrying, it means that you, in fact, are not leaving your problems in God's hands to handle, you're trying to figure it out on your own, and by that, you are basically telling God he is INCAPABLE of handling your puny problem. (Puny in the sense of how big and massive HE is, and how tiny YOU are.)

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

So are you sensing a trend here? Because I am! This is not only plainly acknowledging the actual condition of anxiety, but it's also telling us that we have no business worrying about anything! We're in the business of prayer and petition, people! If we build our "business", we will see the fruits of our "labor": guarded hearts, guarded minds, the *ahem!* Peace of God...? I sure as heck want the Peace of God in my life, because then I will be trusting in Him, knowing that He will make my path straight (He will provide that glorious future that we all so hopefully refer back to in Jeremiah 29:11), and I will be resting in Him peacefully, not worrying, because I'll know that my future is solid through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.

Now I know one person in particular who is going to stomp her foot while reading this, and then later, tell me that she already knew all of this stuff, but still needed to hear it. To her, I say this:

ME TOO!!!

Which is why I wrote it! I don't think there is a single one of us Christians that doesn't in thier heart of hearts know this stuff. But that is why we are to be in the Word every day. That's why we are to be in prayer every day. It's because we always need to be reminded. And God likes to be reminded too: only because He, in turn, is reminding you through prayer: He does that a lot. He requires us to do things: expects us to do certain things that we may deem to be "unfair" or "pointless", but He's saying, "It's all for your benefit, my children. It's not for Me: it's for You."

Anyway, while my changes have been wonderful, exciting, new, fresh, and blessed: I have a couple of big life decisions to make in the upcoming months that I am *stressing* and *worrying* about. So believe me when I say, that this post was as much for me as it was for you who are reading it.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

So keep that with you today. Trust in our Lord. He will keep your path straight.