Back in January, in my other blog, I shared a statement that my dad said in a prayer back in 2010. Even though I missed submitting this on the National Day of Prayer yesterday, I want to present his words here. He said, “We surrender our goals, plans, and dreams to You, knowing that Your dreams for us are better than we could even imagine.” This prayer is quite apt at any time, but particularly now, in these days of difficulty from the coronavirus outbreak we are all facing.
A while back, I actually read a magazine article that proposed that many are realizing they are not where they thought they would be at this point in their life. But this article was written several months before all the chaotic and uncertain days ensued. Now it seems as if this subject is on everyone’s mind. For instance, did you have the Easter you anticipated? How about that Mother’s Day celebration on Sunday? Have you had to revise the way you are honoring Mom?
In the foreword of Robert and Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth’s excellent book, “You can Trust God to Write your Story”, Joni Eareckson Tada speaks of returning to the college she had originally planned to attend years before, but due to her diving accident, she never did. She describes her return not with a heart of envying the life she had once planned, but with inspiring faith in God. She writes, “My best life-chapters were not the easy, breezy days of being on my feet; they were the deep ones when I was suffering and groping for the arms of my Savior.”
Proverbs 16:9 states, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” That’s why I love my dad’s prayer of trust and surrender to God. He understood that we have our plans, but God may have other ideas. And the wisest course of action isn’t to get bitter and angry, but to surrender to God’s authority.
Speaking of my dad, it has been nearly five years since he passed away unexpectedly. I have subsequently heard numerous stories of intense suffering, heartache, and anguish. I empathize with these accounts because I have been there. Thus when I speak of suffering and the surprises of life, I do not do it glibly; to the contrary, I confess I do so with a degree of hesitancy. I can envision the pain someone is facing right now, as a result of coronavirus, or whatever your present crisis may be.
But with all that said, it doesn’t negate the truth we find in the pages of the Word of God. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Pastor Rick Ferguson has been in Heaven since he entered his eternal reward in 2002; his life and ministry are still impacting people today. One of the statements he often made was this profound thought: “If we knew what God knows, we would always want what God wants.”
Kevin
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