Trust the plan!

Have you ever woken up and wondered how you got where you are? Sometimes it's a positive question and you happily meditate on the goodness of God and how everything is lining up in your favor. Sometimes it's a more reflective time when you think back over your journey and how God has brought you through. But there are also those times when you just don't quite know how you ended up in a certain situation or set of circumstances or mindset. You look around and you just cannot believe that your marriage is a hot mess, your finances are completely out of whack, your dream business is not making any money. Or sometimes it's even harder when God is shifting you but tradition says stay, your ministry is waiting but you're scared, or God's plan is in direct conflict with what you imagined for yourself. What do you do then? My flesh, aka Molly, would like to tell you to run! Don't hang around for all of the stress and the struggle that comes from being in a "what's next" moment! But then I hear the Lord say, "Trust Me..." Man! Don't you hate that? Be honest! Don't you sometimes want to hear 'go ahead, you can quit' or 'you don't have to'? I know I do but usually that isn't the case because God always has a plan for where you are.

Think about Elijah. Can't you imagine right after he got Jezebel's message, justifiably having a "how did I get here" moment? I get it! He had been doing what God said and now he was the enemy and the target. "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." (1 Kings 19:3,4 NIV) The Lord sent an angel to feed him twice for strength. Then Elijah went to that cave to hide and essentially wait on death to find him. Do you think that was a part of God's plan for him? Think carefully because it may affect how you think about your own journey and why you have gone through certain things in your life. Do you think it's possible that God led him to that cave so he could learn a lesson that he wouldn't have learned had he followed his own plan? Think about this, Elijah didn't sign up to to die, he signed up to serve. What about you? What did you sign up to do?

Back to Elijah in the cave, trying to understand how, after doing all the Lord had directed him to do, he was at this point in his life. "The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." (1 Kings 19:11,12 NIV) You didn't hear the answer when the infidelity happened, you didn't hear the answer when the famous preacher spoke into your life. No, the answer comes when you can trust that God has you right where you are supposed to be and when you are quiet enough to hear His still small voice. God then asked Elijah the question that you often ask yourself. "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answers with a list of all that has gone wrong in his life and God responds with the plan. “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha! Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!” (1Kings 19:15-18 NLT)

God has reserved just what you need and it or they will show up right when it is time. Your only responsibility is to trust the plan that God has set forth for your life. How did you get here? God has a plan and a purpose for you and it is for such a time as this. Don't get caught up in the cave, instead move out on the mountain and wait for God to pass by and speak. Trust the plan, it's been written by the Master!

Amen

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