Today's Perfect Plan

I awoke this morning and found the day was like any other day.  The sun is rising on the horizon and there is a soft haze/fog across the tree tops.  With a careful ear one can here the birds in distant trees singing out their praise to rising sun, while squirrels play and frolic from roof top to roof top.  The cicada bugs are buzzing already as they talk back and forth across the trees and bushes, and my neighbor’s dog barks periodically to see if any of his friends are out and about.  Sitting on the front porch is a great opportunity to slow down, take it all in and just relax in the presence of God’s amazing world.

We are often times lost in the hurriedness and the busyness of trying to check things off our to-do list that we are blind to the world around us.  It’s easy to dwell on the problems in this life and fail to take in all of the goodness.  Think about it for a moment.  When is the last time you completely stopped and just breathed in God’s beauty and amazing wonder?  I realize it’s often times difficult to just put life on pause and rest without worrying about what’s not getting done.  Even as I say this, today’s to-do list begins rolling through my mind.  At that point, I look up, close my eyes and listen.  Listen to the world around me and realize that God gave me everything I have.  Not as a burden, but as a blessing.

I recall younger days, right after Lisa and I were married.  We lived in an apartment by the Railroad tracks in Britton, Michigan.  It was barely 300 sq ft of living space: living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.  That was all we could afford at the time.  We spent our spare time decorating those walls, hanging pictures, painting and going to garage sales on the weekends to find furnishings.  We had very little at the time, but we had each other, we had a roof over our head and we had food on the table.  We would drive by homes where husbands and wives would be in the front yard mowing, planting flowers and tending to the maintenance of their home.  We would envy them and their ability to have a yard to mow, a fence that needed painting, a porch to sit and laugh and a flower bed to hoe. 

Now, I sit on the front porch of our spacious 2 story home and can’t stop thinking about the list of things that must be fixed before we sell it.  My laptop is open as I look at my unmowed grass, weed filled flower beds, paint peeling off the window sills, 2 broken down cars and kids bikes strewn about the driveway and feel like complaining.  My gosh how spoiled I have become in the last 28 years.  How can I be so blessed and yet still feel like whining.  Where is that man I was, who was fun always happy, content with the little things and wanting for nothing.  Eighteen years in this home has made it seem more of a burden then the blessing it truly is. 

God has given us every thing we have.  I know it is so easy to get wrapped up in what we don’t have, but that is nothing more than selfish desire and wants.  When we are focused on Him, the things we have or don’t have shouldn’t matter.  We get caught up in trying to live in our comfort that often times we forget why we are here to live in the first place.  Let us keep in mind that this is not our home, this is nothing more than a residence on our journey to the eternal presence with God Almighty.  The people in our lives, the simplicity of laughter, the embrace of a friend, the love shared with others and the peace found in serving God are the jewels in this life.  The iPhones, the computers, the flat screens, the cars, the houses, the vacations, the square footage, the aged wine, and so on and so on mean nothing.  I mean it.  They mean absolutely nothing in this life. 

If that is how we are defining ourselves, than shame on us.  Shame on us, for allowing this world to control our perception of who we are, and what we have become.  I want to share with you this one closing thought.  God made you perfect.  He doesn’t make mistakes.  He has loved you since you were conceived and has never stopped loving you.  His love is not dependent upon your possessions, your accomplishments or your actions.  It is freely given without reservation without strings attached.  There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more than He already does, and nothing you have done makes Him love you less.   You need only accept that He alone is your purpose for getting up each day and stepping out into the world.  If you allow Him to be involved and help you through each day, He will use you to help His Kingdom on this earth.  You have to allow Him to use you though, He will not force it upon you.  So stop looking at the problems of the day and realize that you have the next 86,400 seconds to change the world for Him.  Now what are you going to do about it?