The oddest thing just happened. Walking the worst-best this morning, hearing all the morning sounds, I had a thought. No, me having a thought is not the oddest thing, but the thought I had was. It was a reveal, an epiphany, it was a “the more” moment, from Unbelief.
Each morning, before the real day gets underway, I start thinking about what’s on the day-tap. You know, I start making my day plans, my daily to-do list. I’m sure you do that too, right? Every good planner does. But, yesterday, it was pointed out to me that I was going about it all wrong. The thing about it is that I didn’t realize it until this morning.
It goes like this – a group of us have been praying for God’s direction in a particular matter. Seeking His guidance on which way to go, next steps. You’ve been there too, I’m sure. Anyway, in talking with a friend, I spoke about an idea I had to make a phone call that may bring about a resolution to the particular matter, to take next steps regarding the particular matter. After our phone conversation she sent me this:
STOP TRYING TO WORK THINGS OUT before their times have come. Accept the limitations of living one day at a time. When something comes to your attention, ask Me whether or not it is part of today’s agenda. (Jesus Calling, Sarah Young)
STOP. I didn’t shout out those words, Sarah did. Sometimes He has to shout at us to get our attention, doesn’t He? He’s got my number, man. He knows the frenetic pace at which my mind moves after all, He is my Creator. So, I read it and promptly texted my friend and said what do you think? Should I make the call or not? The response:
Have you asked Him if it’s part of today’s agenda?
KAPOW! Why didn’t I see that? What’s the big deal about this, you say? The agenda part. You see, I’m all about planning my daily agenda, oh sure, I pray as I go along, but rarely, if ever, do I stop and ask what His agenda is for my day and most assuredly I don’t ask Him before I make my list. That’s what He pointed out this morning. As we’re walking along planning my day, I gotta do this… I gotta do that… Get this done… You know the drill, your day-list is probably a mile long too, the words of yesterday came into my mind. AHA worst-best. I plan my days without a thought to what God’s plan for my day may be. I start working out what needs to be worked out many times before I even have to.
“The more” parts are several. The more I stop trying to work things out, the more I can see how powerful He is to work them out. The more I accept living one day at a time, the more I must depend on His provision for those days. The more I ask Him and expect Him to answer, the more I may see the answer. The more I seek, the louder He speaks.
Another funny thing I realized is that I had to have the lesson before I could put it into practice. What? He taught me, then He taught me where to apply it. The lesson was Friday. I didn’t understand the lesson completely until I started carrying on with my life on Saturday. See? I plan my day-agenda in the mornings. Saturday, He brought to mind the lesson I had learned on Friday (oh, how quickly we forget), which is to first seek His day-agenda for me. You see, anything I put on my agenda for the day will be everything less than what He has planned for me for the day. By not seeking Him about the day, we limit what can happen in the day. Why? Because we rely on what we have in mind, we rely on what we think needs to be done, we rely on our own power to accomplish our to-do lists.
Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.
Ephesians 3:20
Paul’s prayer of praise lays it all out, doesn’t it? He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or even imagine. Think about that. We have some pretty vivid imaginations, don’t we? But God is able to do an unmeasurable amount more than we can even imagine. If He is that powerful, doesn’t it only seem right that we should seek His will for our days? His day-plans for us can be more than anything we can dream up!
When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 3:14-15
Do we think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan or do we think only of our own plans? He created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. Just think what He could do with our days, with our lives, when we consult Him on the to-dos of our days. His immeasurability can only be found in His plan, in His agenda.