There are lots of sayings about God laughing when we make plans. We like to feel that we are in control of our lives and so try to organise our futures and this can consist not only of where we live, what job we do, who we marry, how many children we have etc. we also do it when we try to serve God. Often without any prayer or any reference to what God may want from our lives we plunge ahead, happily unaware that we can be taking a wrong path. It is only when something happens to intervene, especially something really dramatic, that we suddenly sit up and wonder why it has all gone wrong.
There are probably very few people who aren’t guilty of this. I certainly have made many mistakes in my life and forgotten to involve God at all sometimes when I am making important decisions. When you are young you have your whole life ahead and you may be a practising christian, but you can live very much by making decisions on what feels good at the moment you are in.
I believe God will only intervene and advise us if we ask him to. He is not here to micromanage our lives, but if we involve him in every step we take especially the important ones, and we really listen to what he is advising us to do (even when it may be what seems to be against our interests), then we won’t go far wrong.
At one stage in my life I was heavily involved in church rotas, volunteered for a number of charities and ran a prayer group. Without really thinking of what it would mean I accepted a full-time job and this completely changed my life overnight. I didn’t pray about it, I just decided to do it. I was very unhappy for a number of years doing this work and I really missed my previous life. I struggled to maintain a balance between work and my prayer life and eventually prayed that I could be set free of this situation. I was delighted when a voluntary exit scheme was announced and I was able to leave and have a breathing space to think and pray about what to do next.
I am slowly regaining the life I led but it is taking a long time. Looking back I do so wish I had thought about this and prayed about it more, but you live and learn and we have to take on board the lessons that life has for us. I will certainly make sure that any decision I make in the future will be one in which I involve God.
God bless you and let God into your plans for your lives,
Widows Mote 