List Interrupter

 

When my husband asked what I was doing on a sunny, chilly Saturday, I shared, “Making Lists!”  As he rolled his eyes, he was probably thinking, “That means I’ll receive my list as well!”  He wasn’t too far away with that thinking, but it IS getting to be that time of year, when there is lots to be done and what seems little time to do it!  Thereby, LISTS!  Many folks can walk through life and face what they have in front of them, dealing with it at that moment.  Me?  I can’t even do that on vacation, never mind everyday life.

I admire folks who take life one moment at a time.  I envision them seeing what the day may hold and living/reacting to whatever is in front of them.  There are no plans, no worry if the plan doesn’t happen, no scrambling around to ensure the plan is met.  I have tried that, even on a weekend vacation.  It makes me so uncomfortable!

Therefore, when it comes to the holiday season, the lists get ‘amped up’.  Planning things that need to get done, dinner menus, fun activities, etc.  The planning moves into doing and ensuring that everything that was carefully planned falls into precision execution.  Then, it happens!  The one thing that I DIDN’T plan for, the one thing I WASN’T counting on.  All the well-laid plans fall to the wayside.  After the moment of craziness (and usually a few tears in the bathroom), I emerge knowing God is talking to me!  It is in those moments I realize my plans may not be God’s plans.

 In that moment, Isaiah 55:8 rolls into my head, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declared the Lord.  That is so very true.  When my ways are the only ways, God steps in to remind me HIS ways are the only ways.  It is His purpose and His plans that I need to follow.  It is in these moments I have learned to gain perspective.  It is in these moments I have grown to lean on God.  It is in these moments I pray and say, “Show me what I need to do now.” 

I find that is when I learn the most from my Heavenly Father.  I believe that is when God teaches us the best!  When times are not what we expect, when life throws us the ‘list interrupter”, that is when God becomes front and center.  He teaches, comforts, guides, and loves us through those times.  His patience is so great as we are so weak.  When we can say, “Show me what I need to do,” he graciously leads us to His purpose, His plan.  It may seem so far astray from the journey we want to take, but with Him guiding us, as in Matthew 19:26, “…with God, all things are possible.”

My friends, as we move into this busy holiday season of Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas, let us breathe.  May the lists that I know all of you have not be our only guide.  May the Father himself reach out to remind us that His plans and His purpose are far greater than anything we may have in store.  Release the list to the moment and may we all learn what God may have in store for us!  It’s not easy, and it will take practice.  I’m going to work on this during the next few weeks.  Will you join me? 

Dearest Lord, move my eyes away from MY to-do’s and focus on YOUR to-do’s!  In your name we I pray, Amen!