When Plans Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glent8xwAL4

Walking Like Giants ~ Stars Go Dim

I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. ~ Psalm 121:1-2 MSG

Did you ever expect plans to work one way, and ended up surprised when God took you in another direction?

In February 2006, I really started growing in my faith in Jesus. The more I leaned in, the more He revealed to me. One day, I confessed my dream of wanting to be a writer. God told me that I needed to get baptized, first. In October 2006, I was baptized in the Gulf of Mexico.

Looking back, I laugh at how silly I was: I expected that the very next day, I'd be handed a writing position or something similar. It wasn't the next day, and it wasn't a writing position. Five months later, I started working in at a large newspaper, as an Advertising Assistant. In 2008, God told me to start a Bible Study at work. I reminded God that it was a newspaper and they didn't like Him there. He said, "I know. Do it anyway." It was a small group, but we always looked forward to it. Then something wonderful happened: God started depositing seeds in my heart, words to share with the group throughout the week. I began writing, sending encouraging emails that were inspired by God. He kept His word. It wasn't in my timing and it didn't look the way I thought it would, but my dream was all about me and His plan included me.

If there's a dream or passion you're aiming for, don't give up—not on the dream or on God. He's got big plans and they include you. They may take longer than you'd like and may take you places you never expected you'd go, but say, "Yes!" to Jesus and He'll keep His promises to you. He's faithful to His Word!

©Heather Potts 2020

FoCUS

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. ~ Isaiah 55:9 NKJV

Plans. My plans included the house we were going to buy before having kids and the one-hour labor and natural delivery I was going to have in birthing my kids. But things didn’t go as I planned. Proverbs 19:21 reminds me, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand,” (ESV). If it’s the purpose of the Lord that stands, how do I uncover it? Holy Spirit said, “Through the Sabbath.”

Rest. When God brought His people out of Egypt, slavery—doing what someone else said, when and how they said—was all they’d ever known. Therefore, God commanded, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” (Exodus 20:8 NIV). The root word of Sabbath means “to take a rest; to sit down, to sit still.” It takes discipline to rest. But the benefits far exceed that of continuous motion.

Busyness. Too often I’m distracted by multiple projects or needs at once, losing sight of the bigger picture. Though I’m constantly active, if it’s not moving me toward the most important things, it’s meaningless. Yesterday, Holy Spirit challenged me to fast busyness. Doing so gave me what God’s been trying to give me all year: FoCUS.

Family First (Keeping my priorities in sight).

others on the outside (Maintaining healthy boundaries).

Christ at the Center (Gluing our family together).

Us United (Making every effort to meet each other’s needs).

Self-Care (Necessary in caring for others).

Honoring the Sabbath gave me a chance to recharge, see my projects from a clearer perspective, and refocus on the important things.

Maybe, like me, you’ve let your plans dictate the flow of your life. A wise teacher once said, “The plan may change a million different times. The plan is not what’s important. Jesus is. Don’t focus on the plan. Focus on Jesus.” It’s time to lay our plans down and seek God’s purpose. When we seek Him with disciplined and undistracted hearts, He’ll reveal His plan and purpose to us, which far outweigh any that we could make on our own!

©Heather Potts 2017

Submit Your Plans

in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight ~ Proverbs 3:6 NIV

I’ve always been a planner—on everything from birthdays to budget items. They weren’t bad plans; who plans to fail. But because I didn’t ask God first, it was like I was planning to fail because I failed to ask God for His plans.

In November, 2015, God drew out the plans for a small group He wanted me to lead. He called it, “Princess Bride,” (no, not the movie). The curriculum pulled from a lot of scripture and many books by strong Christian authors. As the small group semester approached, I sat down and wrote the notes for each session. I had the whole thing planned. The first session went…well…it wasn’t that exciting, honestly. But then something AMAZING happened: God came into the room! Just like the lyrics for Bryan & Katie Tolwart's song, When You Walk Into the Room, say, “When You walk into the room everything changes...”

God’s presence changes everything—thought processes, how your body functions, even your plans, even my plans. And because we serve a gracious God, He didn’t trash my plans. He just changed them to match His. The lessons from there on out were so impactful—not just for the other girls, but for me, too—that I waited with expectant hunger for God to show up and change my plans. He did it that whole semester. That one semester so rocked my world, my prayers, my expectations, and my planning that anytime something comes up, I take it to God first and ask Him what He’d like me to do with it. Don’t get me wrong; I’m still a planner. But because I look with expectancy, as Isaiah 40:31 says, I know that I can rest in Him and trust His plans.

What plans do you need to turn over to the Lord? Invite His presence into the room and see what He doesn’t change in your life.

©Heather Potts 2017