Gods Plan Not Mine

God’s Plan Not Mine

            More often than not, the most important help we need is for someone to remind us that we can do it. Recently I went through a period where I was at a loss for what was happening to me. The ideas for these stories suddenly stopped as if someone had turned off the lights. I didn’t feel anything was necessarily wrong but it certainly didn’t feel right either. I was unaware of anything drastic I had done to get God upset with me, but knowing that I sin daily, I kept wondering if that could be the reason. Of course, I tried talking to God about it, but I wasn’t getting any answers. I would love to say my faith never wavered, but that would be a lie. I wasn’t doubting God, but I was seriously questioning myself. I had to keep reminding myself to be patient however, that is not and has never been my strong suit. After much worry and feeling sorry for myself, I finally resigned to waiting it out no matter how long it took.

            Up to this point, I had been writing these stories and posting them on Facebook, a little neighborhood website, and texting them daily to about twenty or so, friends and family. I assumed not many people were actually taking the time to read them. But if they helped one person it was worth it.  Then, to my surprise, I started getting a fair amount of positive feedback, some coming from people I didn’t know. There were comments like, how appreciative they were of my efforts and God’s gifts. They remarked how perfect the timing was and how directly related the message was to their current situation. Needless to say, how encouraging their feedback was. And now that I finally had experienced progress and saw the message was getting out, all this had to take place. I have to admit, it was demoralizing to think that maybe all this was for nothing.

            Several people kept telling me to hold on, that God wasn’t done with me yet. That was a great help and I wanted to believe them so I tried to keep thinking only positive thoughts. But the hours turned into days and the days into weeks, so needless to say, I got concerned. Then one day, while talking to my niece on the phone she suggested I start a blog. I didn’t want to seem unappreciative of her support. I certainly didn’t want to appear dismissive of her idea. However, no sooner than the words left her mouth, I immediately thought of a thousand reasons, telling me her idea was completely absurd. My thoughts assaulted me. They relentlessly taunted and teased me, taking great pleasure in reminding me just how little I know about computers, and how I have zero knowledge about blogs or blogging. And duh, had she forgotten, my stories had stopped coming! Attempting to pacify her and avoid further explanations, I told her I would consider it, knowing full well inside my heart, that I could never do anything like that.

            Well, guess what, God saw it differently! When I said I can’t, he answered and said YOU WILL!  I couldn’t get it off my mind, so to satisfy my curiosity I googled, “How to start a blog.” The ad said it’s so simple whether you’re eight or eighty, with or without computer skills, they could show you how to do it and have it up and running in twenty minutes and it would only cost about $40.00 for the first year! Well, wouldn’t you know, this appeared to be the solution to my problem and I am just gullible enough to believe what they said, so I thought, “Why not?”

            Oh, I’m sure what happened next comes as no major shock to you, but things didn’t work out exactly as they said they would! I went to work trying to set up this website, clueless as to where to start. But that was ok because they have this little online tutorial school thing, that takes you through the entire process step by step. After about two long hours, I was a third of the way through my lessons and my eyes were crossed, my hands were shaking, and I could almost swear I felt smoke coming out of my head, so I thought I would take a break from the classes and go back and see if I could apply some of what I had learned. Well, surprise surprise, I was no better off than before watching their videos!

            At this point, desperation had set in. I had already committed myself to this project and was in deeply over my head. I decided to shoot an email to the company I had purchased this program from, in which I quoted their promises back to them and anxiously awaited a response. To their word, I got a phone call from the company the following evening. After spelling out my situation to the man, his response was friendly and encouraging. He reiterated what the ad had said, and stated that if I couldn’t do the work myself, he and his team of professionals would be happy to assist me with any part of the work or do the whole thing for me. I immediately felt all the stress and worry leave my body, It seemed, I had been rescued! He then went on to ask many questions about the purpose and objectives of the website and discussed several options his company offered. He told me, he would work up a proposal and email it for my approval, assuring me he would call the next day.

            The following day I received his call, we exchanged greetings, and he immediately dove into the discussion of money. He said the cost of doing what I wanted done would put us in the $3000.00 range, and it would take them about a month accomplish it all. I’ve already admitted to being gullible, so needless to say, this news hit me like a sledgehammer and I nearly spit out my coffee! Now I’m back to square one, once more feeling completely defeated and ready to quit. But once again, God said YOU WILL. So, I started making calls. Within fifteen minutes, I was on the phone talking to my nephew whom I had long forgotten, did this type of work. After telling him what I was trying to do, he laughed and said he would be happy to do it. He also assured, me that it was not a big deal and he could do it in a few hours.

            I’ve spelled all this out in great detail, so that you might see yet another example of how great God is and highlight how we seldom can forecast his next moves, but we can always trust in them and believe in his faithfulness. Below, I’ve listed a few more points I hoped to make by example of this story.

* Even when we can’t see what God is doing or why he is doing something a certain way, be patient, even if it takes all the faith you can muster. Always remember, all things work for the good of those who love the Lord.

*Being an encourager is NOT in any way a trivial job! You are just as crucial to God’s plans as any other part. One probably would never notice the bolts used in building a massive bridge but without them, there would be no bridge!

*God uses ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things when we allow his will to be done. And if he gives you a mission, have the faith to believe, he will provide what is needed and make a way for you to do it.

            Immediately following this story is a video link, featuring another example of how God works through people. I ask you to watch it and let it encourage you to use whatever talents God has given you, to glorify our Father. I also pray it will inspire you to help us expand the number of people we reach. If God sent you here, we ask that you become a part of this. We ask you to use your knowledge and God given talents to help spread God’s Holy word. If you have skills in using social platforms, ideas to improve this website, or know people who do, we can use you. If you have friends, you can share these stories with, we can use you. If you know someone suffering and hurting that might be helped by our stories, we can use you. We want you to be a bolt in our bridge, so to speak. We welcome your ideas and suggestions. We ask you to help spread the word. Please encourage your friends to visit this site, and ask them to do the same. We are not seeking fame or fortune, only to spread God’s Holy Word, and to see people  saved.