Category Archives: God’s plans for us

Following a Plan-Maker

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My mother was, as they used to say, full of the dickens. She had enough energy for 4 people and injected fun into every day. Dad was her polar opposite, serious and steady, comfortable with quietness and content to come home after work and stay there.

But Mom was a plan-maker. I remember Dad arriving home after a stressful day of managing 250 engineers/architects, ready to relax with his newspaper, when Mom would say, “Carl, don’t take off your tie. We’re going out.”

Dad would wince, but in the end he’d comply. I felt sorry for him on evenings like that, but then one day he said, “If I hadn’t married your ma, I would have been a hermit.” Her conviviality was part of the reason he chose her, and part of why he loved her.

Despite having sympathized with Dad, though, I ended up doing the same thing with Nate. I look back in pictures and see him doing my bidding, still in his suit and tie after work: blowing up balloons for a party, moving furniture, or managing bath time hair washings. Near the holidays he’d be licking stamps for Christmas envelopes, packing Easter baskets, or carving pumpkins.

Just like Dad, he may have secretly winced when I announced my plans, but later the photos would bring a smile, and he’d remember those episodes as positive and charming.

All of us know the Lord regularly makes plans for us. When he lets us know what they are, do we wince and say, “You know, I’m really worn out and want to do my own thing for now.”

Or might we say, “You’ve got a good idea there, God, and I’ll definitely get on board. Someday.”

Or, “Actually, your plans don’t make the best use of my natural gifts, so please find someone else to do it.”

Or, “Don’t you remember, Lord? I tried that once before. It didn’t work then, so I won’t do it now.” Our excuses for not obliging can get quite creative.

What’s really happening, though, is that our God is letting us in on his highest and best for us, detailing plans that will lead to more plans, that will lead to supernatural conclusions. If we step around his groundwork tasks because it’s a hassle or inconvenience, we’re setting aside far more than just what he wants us to do right then.

Rejecting his plans for us is analogous to “dissing” him, which is slang for dismissing or disrespecting him, a far more serious matter than just opting out. It’s a telltale sign of a heart not truly committed to him.

What made Dad and/or Nate go along with the plans of Mom and me, even when it was difficult for them?

Love. Dad loved Mom. Nate loved me. And when love acts, the result is always more love, which is God’s plan exactly.

“God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:16)

Stressful Firsts?

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Emerald Louisa Nyman is only 4 days old, which means she’s had virtually no life experiences, and not much thought-life. Her miniature cerebral cortex is probably smooth, since rivulets and ridges come as a result of thinking hard and solving problems. (Pardon the over-simplification.)

As with all of us, the cerebral cortex plays an important role in remembering, paying attention, thinking, and language. Emerald has precious few reference points for any of that, which means her young life will be a succession of firsts for a long time to come. So, even though she’s only 4 days old, we decided to facilitate a few baby brain wrinkles today by taking her on her first shopping trip.

Because of that, it turned out to be a day of firsts for our little one: first journey away from home, first wind in her face, first rainstorm, first time in fleece outerwear, first trip to a store, first admiration from strangers, and on and on it went. Were we over-rivuleting her brain with too many firsts?

Probably not.

That’s because Emerald came equipped with God’s built-in defense system against brain overload. She ended up dozing through the entire excursion, oblivious to the long list of firsts unfolding all around her.

Something similar happens in our Christian lives, even those of us whose brains are well-wrinkled from years of problem solving. When we first come to know the Lord, our spiritual cerebral cortexes are smooth and inexperienced. We accept salvation much like a child, at face value and without question. As time passes, though, our understanding of God and his Word grows, generating questions that force us to use (and sometimes over-use) our spiritual gray matter.

When difficulties grow too big to manage, the word “why” comes up, and our brains go into spiritual overdrive. Circumstances often make no logical sense, so we over-think them and can’t understand why God won’t reveal the A -to-Z plans he has in mind, why he only gives the A and B.

We wear ourselves out holding onto the what-if scenarios that haven’t happened yet, when it might be wiser to follow Emerald’s example. If she’d been aware of the long list of firsts we had planned for her today, she would have stressed her new smooth cerebral cortex to the limit. As it was, she rested in the familiar security of her mommy’s arms and probably didn’t undergo any cerebral furrowing at all.

God must shake his head in amazement as he watches us waste time and brain power stressing over things that haven’t happened yet and probably never will. He’d rather see us relax and trust him to handle future details in the right way and time.

Meanwhile, just like Birgitta kept Emerald safe in her arms, God wants to carry us, too.

“I am he who will sustain you. I have made you, and I will carry you.” (Isaiah 46:4)

The Power of Love

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Those of us who are mothers know the sacrificial nature of mother-love. As I watch Birgitta relate to her 3-day-old infant Emerald, I’m reminded again of this potent emotion and what it looks like. For a 22 year old single mom, as for most new moms, it translates to a happy willingness to suffer for her child: inconvenience, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, lack of a shower, and always putting self last. Birgitta’s love for her little girl is a 1 Corinthians 13 love for sure.

From J. B. Phillips New Testament translation, her love…

  • is slow to lose patience (i.e. never)
  • looks for a way to be constructive (and how to handle Emerald best)
  • is not possessive (willingly shares Emerald with the rest of us)
  • isn’t anxious to impress (by bragging)
  • doesn’t have an inflated idea of her own importance (never complaining about fatigue or lack of time for herself)
  • has good manners (treats her little one with respect and kindness)
  • does not pursue selfish advantage (feeds her first)
  • isn’t touchy (tries to understand the need behind baby’s fussing)
  • doesn’t keep account of evil (by dismissing the criticisms of others)
  • is glad when truth prevails (and thankful when others see her child as the blessing she is)
  • knows no limit to its endurance (smiles at Emerald, despite exhaustion)
  • knows no end to its trust (being sure God will help her to be a good mom)
  • knows no fading of its hope (expecting the best of her mother-daughter relationship)
  • can outlast anything! (and never fade)

Acting this way toward Emerald seems easy for Birgitta. It’s what she wants to do more than anything else. But 1 Corinthians 13 wasn’t meant just for new moms, and using it in other contexts isn’t always that easy. God’s intention is for us to act in the above ways in all circumstances and toward all people.

In other words, he wants us to sacrificially love everyone. That includes those who rub us the wrong way or bring us grief and even those we’d classify as our enemies, which is a great deal more difficult than loving a newborn. First Corinthians 13 also tells us that no matter what accomplishments we make in life, no matter how righteous our attitudes or deeds, if our M.O. isn’t love we’ve done nothing worthy of praise.

Those are strong words we’ll spend a lifetime trying to live up to. But while we’re trying, I know one new mom and baby who might be a powerful inspiration.

“Love is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.” (1 Corinthians 13:8)