{His plans > my own}

One day last week I was driving down the road in our big white van with the windows down and the radio up. The AC in our van is confusing...sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't. When I got in the van that day I assumed the AC wasn't going to work so I opened the windows in hopes of getting some kind of relief from the sweltering heat that July in Tennessee brings. Did it work? I guess the air blowing hard in my face brought some sort of "coolness" but it was still fairly warm and far from what I would prefer. I endured, though, because I figured it couldn't get any better so I might as well enjoy the small bit of relief while I had it.

After a few stops and lots of inward complaints about the heat and how unbearable it was getting, I got a phone call and had to close the windows in order to hear whoever was on the other line. When I hung up and was about to roll the windows down again I paused at the wonderful feeling of nice, cool air flowing from the air vents right in front of me. The AC...it was working. Cold air was actually coming out of the vents! Had this been happening the whole trip and I just couldn't feel it because the windows had been opened? I endured the hot air and what I thought was the best it could get while the entire time this glorious cold air could have been filling our car? Because I assumed the AC wasn't working and that it would be a better idea to roll down the windows...

How often do we act this way towards God? Now, I by no means want to compare the most High King of Glory to our old, slowly dying 12 passenger van and it's AC that rarely ever works, (because He is perfect in everyway, He is always working, and He is the best there is) but in that moment, for whatever reason, I felt like that situation was being used to teach me a lesson. Instead of simply saying, "Oh awesome." and going on singing along with the radio enjoying the nice cool van, not even giving it a second thought...I paused and thought: "Whoa. That is cool. And whoa. That reminds me of how I treat God sometimes."

Silly? Maybe. Are you rolling your eyes? That's fine. But in that moment, when all I wanted was relief from the intense heat, I thought I knew what was best and I didn't even bother to go to the AC first. I assumed it wasn't working that day so I'd be better off doing it on my own, in my own way. In the end, I was proven wrong and the AC had been there the whole time, working exactly how it was supposed to, but I didn't notice because A. The noise from the windows being open prevent you from hearing much else, and B. the hot air from outside (The stuff I thought was better...) was surrounding me and giving me a false sense of comfort and relief.

Is that a perfect picture of us and God? Absolutely not. But the Lord used a simple, everyday moment, like that one to help me realize just how often I do ignore God and try to do it on my own. Just how often I assume He doesn't care, or won't do anything and that I'd be better off just doing my own thing without even consulting Him. 

It's easy to get caught up in whatever you're doing and neglect God...the One who gave you life, the One who placed you where you are, the One who sustains you, the One who gives you the strength you need to face every hurdle you come to, the One who blesses you far beyond what you deserve, the One who gave His Son to die so that you may live, the One to whom you owe everything you are, the One who knows your past, your present and your future, the One who has perfectly planned out your entire life and will fulfill His every promise in His own perfect timing, the One who loves you always...

We think we know what's best, that our plans are better...I don't know about you, but every time I try to do things on my own, fix my problems by myself, without praying to God and asking for His wisdom and guidance because I feel like He isn't going to respond or help me, I fail.
Things might seem to work out ok at first, and I might even think it couldn't get better... but then comes a phone call that causes me to roll up the windows, it throws a wrench into my awesome plans, and then I realize that He has been there the whole time...I just didn't notice because I was so caught up in myself and my own solutions. I was distracted by the loud noise the wind brings, and the false sense of relief that came with having the windows down.

He was there the whole time, with a much, much better solution, a much better plan. All He wanted me to do was call out to Him, to roll up the windows of my own plans and run to Him for help. But I thought I knew what was best...

"For my thoughts are not your thought, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

We can't do anything on our own guys. We need God. His plans are so much better than anything we could ever dream of!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with your whole heart..." Jeremiah 29:11-13

The Lord has given us so much, including an amazing mind that can think of and come up with great things, ideas, and even plans...He has gifted us in so many ways. And it's all for His glory...We are called to live for His glory, and that means forsaking our own ways and striving to follow His. To seek and to trust in Him always. To repent of our sins and surrender our lives to Him everyday, because frankly, we wouldn't be here without Him. If it was't for His grace in sending His Son to this earth to suffer and die for us, taking the punishment we so deserve because of the darkness of our hearts, if it wasn't for His amazing grace and mercy...we would be doomed. Also, He created us, He brought us into existence...so there's that too. We are His.

He is our hope. He is our Rock. He is our mighty Fortress. He is our God and He loves and treasures us.

The Bible y'all. It is full of God's promises. It is full of grace and mercy. It is full of truth. Read it, write it on your hearts...
Seek Him. Pray. Trust in Him. And y'all, share Him. This world needs Him so desperately and we as Christians are called to be ambassadors for Him and to make disciples for Him. 

Oh yeah, and pay attention to the little things in life...because you never know when He might be using them to teach you something and then maybe you'll write a long, unexpected post about it too. 

"But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him'" 1 Corinthians 2:9