Life changes. It just does. You can count on change in your life. For those of us who accept this, we have a propensity to plan for it.
I like to plan. Plans are good, they are control. They are safe, because you can formulate.
Plans are good to have, but they are not always what comes to be. No matter how much you plan, contrive, and control, life is going to throw things at you that you never expected. Looking back on the last 5 or so years of my life, I can certainly see that. Did I plan things? Yes. Did they come to pass? Yes, and no, and yes in a way I didn't expect, and no in a way I didn't expect.
I planned to finished my undergrad. I didn't plan for it to change me in the way it did.
I didn't plan to go to grad school right away. When that became part of the plan, I didn't expect it to change me the way it did.
I did plan to meet someone, someday. I didn't expect it to be so soon, so real, so wonderful, and teach me so much.
I planned to find a church. I didn't expect it to challenge me or connect me with community and fellowship in the way it has.
I planned to have friends. I didn't expect those friendships to be so vulnerable and life-giving.
I planned to change as a person, but I am stunned in how much I have changed, and how I have changed.
All this to say...God knows best. You can tell yourself the "if only(s)" (that is, "if only I had such and such, my life would be happy and complete"), but in the end those things are nice at best, and harmful at worst.
The other day I was listening to a sermon that pointed out this phenomenon very succinctly; The more you focus on yourself, the more miserable you are. The more you focus on others and how you can serve them, the more happy you will be.
I have fears in my life related to how I perceive safety, happiness, and well-being. They may or may not be true. One thing I do know: this world is messed up. Things happen. But Jesus reigns. God is in control. And if you follow Jesus, the things that happen in this world do absolutely nothing to change His love for you or your eternal destiny.
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| Green beans - microns + watercolor |
Plans are good to have, but they are not always what comes to be. No matter how much you plan, contrive, and control, life is going to throw things at you that you never expected. Looking back on the last 5 or so years of my life, I can certainly see that. Did I plan things? Yes. Did they come to pass? Yes, and no, and yes in a way I didn't expect, and no in a way I didn't expect.
I planned to finished my undergrad. I didn't plan for it to change me in the way it did.
I didn't plan to go to grad school right away. When that became part of the plan, I didn't expect it to change me the way it did.
I did plan to meet someone, someday. I didn't expect it to be so soon, so real, so wonderful, and teach me so much.
I planned to find a church. I didn't expect it to challenge me or connect me with community and fellowship in the way it has.
I planned to have friends. I didn't expect those friendships to be so vulnerable and life-giving.
I planned to change as a person, but I am stunned in how much I have changed, and how I have changed.
All this to say...God knows best. You can tell yourself the "if only(s)" (that is, "if only I had such and such, my life would be happy and complete"), but in the end those things are nice at best, and harmful at worst.
The other day I was listening to a sermon that pointed out this phenomenon very succinctly; The more you focus on yourself, the more miserable you are. The more you focus on others and how you can serve them, the more happy you will be.
I have fears in my life related to how I perceive safety, happiness, and well-being. They may or may not be true. One thing I do know: this world is messed up. Things happen. But Jesus reigns. God is in control. And if you follow Jesus, the things that happen in this world do absolutely nothing to change His love for you or your eternal destiny.
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