There’s an old saying, “If nothing changes, nothing changes.” As believers in Christ Jesus, we are called to change. Join me this week and consider some aspects of change in our lives as we walk with the Lord. Is there anything that you need changed?

About Those Plans!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” 

Jeremiah 29:11, NLT

Yesterday we considered God in the ways we think; today let’s consider Him in our life plans.

One hot day I saw a snail trying to make its way across the sidewalk. I suspected that it was planning to get to the coolness of the grass on the other side. I watched for a while and it was taking a long time because it was, well … a snail!  It was a snail moving at a snail’s pace. But, I knew that if the snail continued with its plan, to move at a snail’s pace across that big sidewalk, it was likely to get crushed. A group of children were racing up and down the sidewalk across the snail’s path, unaware that it was even there. I wanted to help the snail move out of the danger zone, so I reached down and attempted to turn it in the other direction.

Have you ever tried to move a snail along? It dug in and became rigid and hard to move. I actually had to pull it up to move it in another direction. It was like lifting a suction cup! And, it left a slimy smear on the ground as evidence of its resistance to change! Aren’t we like that with our plans sometimes? We’re doing what comes naturally to us, unaware of potential danger, and don’t know or consider that God has good planned for us. And, if we’re prompted to change our plans, we delay that altogether or move at … a snail’s pace to accomplish them!

Read today’s Dose verse. It refers to God’s plans for the Israelites; He had plans that they’d be brought back to Him and they could have hope in knowing that He has a future for them. God has plans for us too; good plans for our future, which He reveals when we adjust our life plans to be aligned with His. We can stop going our own way and turn to follow His direction. But, like the snail, we can find it very uncomfortable to realign our plans. It may initially feel as though we’re leaving parts of ourselves behind, like that slimy little smear from the snail, but we’ll be headed to a better future than we ever even dreamed of—a future which God specifically tailored for us.

Sister, be encouraged today in knowing that God has made good plans for your life. Are you willing to change your plans for His?

By grace through faith,

Rita