These days I’m working on planning my day… week… month… and life by learning from my past.  Some things I’m beginning to grasp are:  1) It happens regardless of the plans I make.  2) There is no way I can plan for the unexpected.  3) The best I can do is to make decisions as each day unfolds.  4) Often the plans I make get modified so many times they don’t look anything like I first thought of them.  5) Virtually all the major things that have happened in my life were backed into {They weren’t on my life radar!}.

As a side note, it has taken me a long time and many experiences to come to these conclusions.  Experience is virtually our only and best teacher (At least that’s the way I see it).

For me that means: 1) De-stressing as unexpected things unfold because God is in control.  2) Refusing to worry over what I cannot control because I trust in the Lord with all my heart.  3) Being comfortable when the plans I’ve made go awry or are modified because God’s plans are much better than my plans.  4) Accepting that the unexpected is only such from my perspective.  In the eternal scheme they were planned by God.  5) Everything that happens in my life is ultimately good for me and is for God’s glory.

Let me explain #5 from the first paragraph.  God’s will has not so much been revealed to me as it has been done in my life.  Another way to put it is this… God’s will is not so much something He reveals as something He does.  For instance…

Being born wasn’t something I planned… it happened.

Where I lived the first 18 years of my life wasn’t planned by me… they happened.

I didn’t plan to meet the significant people in my life… they happened.

Going to Southern Mississippi after High School wasn’t planned… it happened.

Getting injured there and returning to Birmingham wasn’t planned… it happened.

Meeting the young lady who became my wife wasn’t planned… it happened.

Every church I’ve been called didn’t come about by my plan… they happened in ways I never could have brought about by my own power.

All the really significant life lessons I’ve learned happened… they weren’t planned by me to learn.

How do those play into my life now?  1) I do my best to do what I know I’ve been called to do.  2) I do my best to follow the road when it turns unexpectedly.  3) I try… though not always as successful as I’d like… to not worry when things don’t happen the way I prefer.  4) I work hard to accept things as they present themselves rather than get worked up.  5) I do my best to see God in the moment rather than in retrospect.  This means I tell myself as things happen… “God is in the middle of this.  Look close!”

Hope you find some encouragement in these thoughts.