This past week was not what I expected. What I had planned…didn’t happen. But what I hadn’t planned…did.
I shared with you last Tuesday in “Who is your ‘Who’?” that I
took an unexpected tumble and was suffering the consequences. Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of the
story, because later that same day my husband was working in our garden and
also hurt his back. Let’s just say our
home has resembled a nursing home ever since.
There would never be a good time for this to happen, but there
might have been a more convenient time.
You see, we were supposed to leave on vacation on Saturday, but by
Thursday evening it was obvious that neither of us were going to be able to sit
in a car for any length of time. We
probably could have made the trip by stopping often to walk around, but we were
afraid we would get to our destination and then not be able to do anything but
lay in a horizontal position.
So we made the decision that it was best to delay our trip. As disappointed as we were, we knew that we
had to be realistic and consider the consequences of doing things we knew we
shouldn’t do. No trip would be worth it
if we further damaged our health.
As I was resting on one of the days, I came across this quote
from Corrie Ten Boom,
“When a train goes
through a
tunnel and it gets dark, you
don’t throw away the ticket
and jump
off. You sit still
and trust the
Engineer.”
This just confirmed what
I already knew…Corrie Ten Boom was a very wise woman.
I don’t think it was a coincidence that I read this quote while
I was resting from my fall. Our
unexpected detour was obviously not earth shattering, but it still put before
us a choice to make. We could pout and
mope and throw a fit, or we could trust that this was in the Lord’s plan and
rest in the fact that His timing is always perfect.
Why is it so hard sometimes to remember this? Why is it that often times, when things don’t
go our way in life…when darkness seems to surround us and our plans take on an
unexpected detour, we are so quick to want to jump off the train? We often seem to demonstrate that we have no
staying power. I think part of the
problem is that we are such an instant society, where we expect everything to
happen right now and we don’t want to experience anything that isn’t in our
plan and on our time schedule!
I think it comes down to the fact that we don’t always trust our
“Engineer”. We think we know best and so
when life deals us a raw deal and we don’t get our way, we immediately think
our “Engineer” doesn’t know what He is doing.
So because we feel He must be inept, we decide to jump off the train…go
our own way and handle things ourselves.
Unfortunately, we hate to sit still and so we think running is a better
option.
As most of us know, this is not a wise decision to make but we
see that much more clearly when things are going smoothly. It’s when our journey takes an unexpected
turn that we have the choice to either trust in God completely, or turn away
from Him and handle things on our own.
The best laid plans of mice and men (and women!) often go
awry. What a true statement. No matter how carefully we plan and make sure
our ducks are in order…something often goes wrong. The reason for this is in this statement…they
are sometimes the plans of men not of God.
It is so important that we are sensitive to His leading and make sure
our plans are His and not ours. At times
it’s just a matter of being flexible enough to change our plans when He
presents before us a new agenda.
Last week’s events weren’t on my calendar and I’m wondering what
unexpected tunnels I will be directed to go through this week. I’m praying that
whatever comes across my path, I will put my full trust in the One who
engineers my every step and can see the way even in my “tunnels”. He has shown me over and over that His plans
are much better than mine and there are times when my job is just to sit still
and give Him my complete trust. Will you
join me in making the commitment to “stay on the train” this week and allow Him
to direct our path?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own
understanding.”
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be
dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go.”
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