Sometimes it is good to go back to a book, or a devotional, and reread something you have probably read numerous times (as I have this one devotional). What you go back to is something that grabbed you from the first moment you read it. If you are reading your Bible, it could be a specific scripture that stood out to you one morning. Or it could be something you read from your youth that came to your mind during a time of reflection now. I know that when I was going through a 'scare' (for me) about something recently, the scripture I read then and reread and said numerous times was Jeremiah 17:14.
I'm rereading one of the devotionals I received back in 2002. I can't tell you how many times I have read through it over the years, but each time I do, I get something more out of it. There are several 'days' in this devotional that speak to me, but this one in particular - Chapter 9 - titled 'The Secret of No Plan B' always grabs me. It was what I read this morning, and has prompted this post.
I don't know about you, but I have been in many situations in the past that, even before I surrendered my life to Jesus, that God has intervened and rescued me. I didn't know it then, because I didn't acknowledge Him, other than a passing fancy. I didn't KNOW Jesus as my LORD. I only knew He was 'out there' somewhere because I heard about Him at church. Sure didn't hear about Him at home. But He watched over me (prayers of my mother, my father (before he died), my grandparents?) and kept me from harm. He allowed me to make my own choices, my own mistakes (and did I ever make those!), but He was with me always.
But back to No Plan B. Wow. How many times have we been up against something that we just had no clue what to do and began seeking out so many different ways to solve our problem, our issue? We end up, many times, taking the easy road out instead of pursuing God and asking Him "what shall I do in this situation? What are You wanting me to see, and do?" For example, sometimes it is easier to walk away (or run away) from a disagreement than it is to sit down and discuss exactly what the disagreement is about and resolve it, or even to agree to disagree. Relationships are hard enough within a family when God isn't a part of them, but when He is, you will find that offenses taken are sometimes misplaced. Sometimes it is easier to step away than to resolve them. I've stepped away from some of my family members numerous times, until I could breathe around them again. You know how many times my sister and I have had issues; two specificially that I know I have shared over the years, and both times her tongue cut me to shreds and I was so broken because it wasn't so much about ME that she lashed out, but it was about HER and her anger at life, things going on in her own world. I had to learn that, step back, and pray for healing - of my heart and hers - so that we could become friends again. Not always easy, and I oftentimes find myself trying to shield my heart when I begin to hear things in words spoken that I felt were going to bring up the pain again. The anger is real; the pain is real.
And when it happens, the emotions hang there. Are you praying about what to do? No plan B. If God doesn't give you an answer, or if He doesn't bring healing (in whatever form), if He doesn't bring that wayward child Home, if He doesn't intervene and bring healing and wholeness to someone..... do you give up? Or do you continue to press in to Him and ask what He is wanting to show you, to teach you, to give you insight or direction on?
Oftentimes when we have a sickness we go to the doctor. That's what we have been brought up to do. That's what we pay for with our insurance. But what if - we just come before God and ask Him to intervene in whatever the sickness is, (and even hardness of heart is a sickness), and bring healing to that person? What if we don't run to the aspirin bottle, but ask God to bring healing to your body? As I sit here I am wishing I had reread this chapter first.... I woke up around 3AM with a major headache this morning.... I didn't pray about it, but tried to go back to sleep, and finally got up. It still hurt pretty bad so to ward it off, I took a pain killer. What if I had gone to God FIRST and asked Him to heal my head. I know I have in the past, and He did remove the pain of my head. Why did I go to the 'bottle' first to heal my head, instead of asking the One who created me? Who knows so much about me? Who loves me too much to allow something to happen to me that through it He is teaching me how to live?
I still make mistakes. I still forget to ask God first "What do You want me to learn from this? What do You want me to do in this situation? Are You allowing this to turn me back to you? Have I forgotten that YOU are God and I am not? Will You bring healing, Lord, instead of running to the doctor? Can I just sit with You, Lord, and let you bring healing and wholeness to my heart and mind and body?"
One thing for sure, God doesn't always answer the way we want Him to. We pray for healing and He may say 'NO'. Or He may even say 'Not Yet'. People we have prayed for are healed. People we have prayed for have died. Does that mean that God did answer our prayer or didn't answer our prayer? No, it just means that we put that person in His hands and allow God to be God. A friend of ours within the past few months was put in the hospital with COVID... she died, in spite of our prayers for her. Another friend was put in the hospital with COVID and we prayed.... and he recovered quickly and came back home. We can't make the decision on who lives and dies, who gets healed and who doesn't. That's God's job. He created them. He knows that in spite of our prayers - which generally draw us closer to Him - He is working in each one of us. No Plan B.
If God isn't in it, you are in Plan B mode. It's got to be God first as Plan A. It doesn't mean you don't seek medical attention when it is needed. God still works through the doctors He places in our path. But are we leaning into God and saying "If You don't bring healing through whatever means You choose, I have no other alternative. I have no Plan B. It's You first, Lord, working through whatever means You choose. I am not looking for another way out; I'm not running around just guessing at answers. You are the answer, Lord. If you don't rescue from this situation; if You don't bring healing; if You don't restore.... I have no Plan B. Plan A - You, Lord - are our focus."
I'm going to make more of an effort to make God my Plan A only. Confession.... I've let life beat me up somewhat over the years and I have not always made God my Plan A - that no matter what is going on in my life, I will lean into Him. My job is dependent upon Him and what I do within that job is in His hands. I can succeed or fail. He gave me this job when I needed it. If He allows it to be removed, then He has other plans for me and I need to lean into Him to find it. (side note: my job is secure - no worries there) My life is dependent upon His will for me. I ask Him ... and now I need to wait on Him.
In the Lord's Prayer (which we all know, and at some point I want to blog about it), is the statement "Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven". Why not take a moment and just pray that prayer?
"Lord, may Your will be done in my life today. Whatever path You have for me, help me to be alert and take that path. Today, Lord, I want You to show me the way I should go, for I lift up my eyes to You. In spite of everything going on around me, I choose to walk with You, Jesus. Amen."
Amen.
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