Who's at the Wheel?

"The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps" Proverbs 16:9

I used to plan my life...no really...stop giggling. I would pop out of bed (OK, maybe "oozed" would be more accurate), wash, dress, grab my "Checklist" and sail out the front door to do battle with the day. Now I carefully fold my Checklist and put it into my back pocket (I may want to look at it later on), drop into a sturdy posture and open the door to the fires, sirens and crises of life that come screaming in at F4 on the Fujita scale.

Rather than navigating a carefully laid out choreograph, I now find that life just "happens" to me...as it does to a piņata at a ten year old's birthday party. On top of my own emergencies and unexpected obstacles, I chance upon people throughout the day in need of support, encouragement or logistical rescue. I get to the office and find stacks of phone messages and emails all urgently crying for attention. The items on my Checklist seem to fade in priority amid the flurry of fire hoses and tourniquets.

Don't get me wrong, I still have a plan, but it's often late in the afternoon before I pull the faded Checklist from my back pocket to decide which two or three items I still have enough daylight to address. I deal with the needs that threaten the nearest deadlines, then carefully fold the Checklist back into my pocket and go home to shower, eat and collapse knowing tomorrow will likely be the same.

Does this sound like a complaint? I hope not; I love what I do. I suppose I could stand for the r.p.m.'s to drop off a tad, but at the end of the day I know I have allowed the Spirit to "bend, fold and staple" my Checklist according to His Wisdom and Will and that my energy has been well invested. He's much better at arranging all this than I am and I am grateful to find myself a "water-bearer" to the thirsty saints who populate the vast desert of our frenzied and overworked culture.

What has amazed me is the change itself. It seems to me that my grip on the steering wheel has grown much gentler over the many years of ministry. I have released the idea that I know what's best and which way I should go. Instead of regarding all these pesky "interruptions" as annoying distractions that keep me from my Checklist, I'm learning that they are the Checklist...His Checklist. Mine has become simply "another checklist"...useful for organizing but not the focal point I thought it was.

I still map out appointments and holidays to be sure, chaos would ensue without some pretense of structure (and my lawn would never get mowed!). But I smile now when reality turns out to bear any resemblance to my original blueprint ("what a coincidence, I actually planned it that way!"...). This feels less like "surrender" and more like "flying" every day. What a glory to trust in the skill and guidance of a Master Choreographer. Be of good cheer Believer. The Captain's on the bridge and our course is sure. We who believe will all arrive safely and exactly on time."The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps" (Prov 16:9).

Pastor Matt