Lesson #7 We Only Have Now

As much as I like to plan ahead and dream big dreams, I really don't have much control over anything.  It was when I was completely out of control in Hawaii that I realized how true Proverbs 19:21 is, "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."

Try as I might to keep my family safe, keep them healthy, and make dreams come true, I don't get the final say, I don't have the final authority, and I don't get to dictate my wishes to the King.  But that does not mean I need to be discouraged or dismayed.  It does not mean my King does not want the best for me. It does not mean my dreams won't come true.

Hurricane Hilo taught me that there is no greater joy than to be smack-dab in God's will.  If I am in a storm He has allowed, it is the safest place to be--for He is with me.  I have no desire to convince anyone that I know that I know that I know that no matter what the outcome of the Hurricane would have been, His grace would have been sufficient.  It just IS sufficient for what IS, not for what might be.

I don't go there much in my thoughts but I would venture to guess some people have wondered..."It is easy for Linda to say God's grace is sufficient when the outcome has been positive. But what would she say had Eric been permanently disabled -physically or mentally? And what would she say had Eric passed away from this horrendous disease?"

And because God did not ask me to walk those paths, I don't have an answer.  But I do believe deep in my soul that His grace IS sufficient for whatever comes our way.  He said so and I believe Him.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)

And I believe He loves my family even more fiercely than I do.  Why He asks hard things of His followers, I have no easy answers.  There are no easy answers when love is involved.  I remember the day I brought Eric home from the hospital as a newborn.  As the evening settled in, I was knocked off guard by HOW MUCH I loved him and how scary that was! Anything could happen to him!  Life would never be the same.   But we don't let fear win the argument.  When we welcome a child into this crazy, broken world, we shout to our fears, "I CHOOSE LOVE!"  Had I cowed to fear, Eric would be an only child.

This leads me back (on a winding road) to my lesson...all we have is now.  We don't have tomorrow.  We can plan because God gave us brains and order and (indirectly) planners.  But He has the final say.  His purpose gets to prevail because He is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving and when all is said and done, He has the best plan of all. And He loves us more than we can love us.  This I know.