God Has a Better Plan

Sunday Chronicles #87, April 8, 2018

God Has a Better Plan!

Outside, a cloudy, chilly day in Springfield, MO. Another blast of winter air from Canada brought temps down under freezing last night, but our weather people assure us a warm-up is on the way! Inside, it’s been a morning blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit. I had intended to go to chapel, but the cold prevented that. However, I watched on TV and was blessed by the service. A spirit of prayer has come over the village this weekend. About noon on Friday, one of our groundskeepers had a freak accident with a riding mower. He is now in ICU with life hanging in the balance. We are praying.

Last spring, at a chapel service soon after Nelson’s death, Chaplain’s message was about praying with faith and how God answers with miracles. He gave examples from Scripture. I had prayed for Nelson to be healed with all the faith I could muster, and I know many of you had prayed also. Yet he died. As I was walking out of chapel, Chaplain walked along beside me. In my despair, I asked, “What happens when you pray with all the faith you have and God doesn’t do the miracle?” I admit I was hurting and bitter. Chaplain quietly answered, “God has a better plan.” I didn’t reply to him, but in my heart I was thinking: “For Nelson, yes; but for me there’s no better plan than having Nelson well and here with me.” That’s something I still wish God would have granted, but recently I have thought again on the words in the first part of The Lord’s Prayer “…Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” All of our requests to God must come under that heading: “Thy will be done.” Accepting disappointment as God’s will and “better plan” is hard.

That brings me back to the women at the tomb. We left them last week when they found the stone had been rolled away, and they saw angels who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead, but they didn’t understand. They followed the angels’ instructions and rushed to tell the disciples, but Mary Magdalene returned to the garden and sat near the tomb weeping. Jesus came up behind her and spoke to her, but in her grief she didn’t recognize Him. Then He called her name. That encounter changed her sorrow into joy. She ran again to the disciples and said, “I have seen the Lord!” She was beginning to grasp part of God’s “better plan.”

Today Chaplain spoke from MK 4:37-41. It’s evening, and Jesus has been teaching all day by the sea of Galilee. The crowds have gone home for the night. Jesus said to His disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side.” They got into the boat and started across the lake, usually about a 3-hour trip. Jesus, weary from the day’s ministry, found a quiet spot and lay down to rest. Soon He was asleep. The wind increased and the boat, caught in the midst of a full-fledged storm, was taking on water. Several of the disciples, experienced sailors who had grown up working on boats on this same body of water, knew they were in danger of sinking. They rushed to Jesus and ask, “Don’t you care if we perish?” Here they were, doing what Jesus said “going to the other side” but about to lose their lives. Jesus got up, spoke to the storm, and the wind and waves quieted. One translator gives His words as “Hush! Be muzzled!” His command put into action God’s better plan. Our journey of faith sometimes takes us into storms even when we are doing exactly what Jesus has ask of us. It’s in those times that we have to trust Him and submit to “Thy will be done.”

Many more thoughts are imbedded in each of these topics, but my word limit is approaching. Perhaps in your meditation, God will give you His message for you. Thank you for your prayers and patience as I try to find my place in God’s better plan. I made one leap of progress this week: I baked a batch of cinnamon rolls all by myself…first time I’ve done that since the pace-maker was put in. I gave them all out to visitors and neighbors by nightfall. As the familiar saying goes, “A good time was had by all.” That must be a part of God’s “better plan.” Your comments each week are especially appreciated! Peace, jwb