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When Things Do Not Go as Planned

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When Things Do Not Go as Planned

When Things Do Not Go as Planned

A new year comes around. Planners are purchased and filled out with lots of intention to be productive.

Schedules are rearranged to put first things first. “I cannot do it all” runs through your mind, so you give yourself the grace to not do some activities that you would like to do but that do not move you toward your goals for you and your family.

Two weeks in, things have been going pretty well. A couple of hiccups, but nothing that derails your schedule.

You went to bed last night with your list of things to do tomorrow already figured out. Your game plan is ready.

Then you woke up today and that plan is not going to work.

Has that happened to you? Something as simple as waking up with a cold that keeps you out of pocket for one day. Or maybe something as big as a loved one dying suddenly which changes the course for many people on a temporary, as well as long term, basis.

Life happens.

 

So what will you do with TODAY when things do not go as planned?

I have to ask myself this question quite often, much to my chagrin. Being a stay at home, home schooling, mother of five who also is building a business at home there are many things that can throw my plans out the window. Add in Chronic Lyme disease and you just cannot know what a day will bring. I can plan what I intend to do. I cannot plan for germs that attack my family’s immune systems, Lyme deciding today that it did not like the activities I did two days ago, family members having a crisis in their lives, or my husband suddenly needing something done while he is at work.

My personality is such that it wants it ALL to fit into my calendar and stay put. That is also my arrogance and my foolishness.

So today, as I awoke to find my energy not what it should be and my thinking to be cloudy (still the most annoying part of Lyme, in my humble opinion) I asked the Lord to help me to put my plans where they belong – in His hands.

God KNOWS what I wanted to do today.

The Lord KNOWS what deadlines are in front of me.

The Father KNOWS what my children need from me today.

Two verses stood out to me today as I tried to put my frustration into positive energy:

 

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

and

Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

 

If –

  • you are struggling with your day just not going the way you planned for it to
  • your little ones surprised you with runny noses and a nasty cough
  • a friend or family member called and needs you today 
  • your husband is having a rough day and could do with some extra moral support today 
  • you woke up and your body is not functioning in the way God intended 

I hope that you will know you are not alone – God KNOWS – and there are others (like me) who struggle in this way. My prayer is that you are able to turn a bad day into a time to be thankful for what is and give grace for your plans to come another day.  What seems like a day gone wrong in the beginning, may just turn out to be the day you needed – you just didn’t know it yet. Give God the struggles you carry, free your heart so it does not turn to bitterness. Count your blessings and approach your plans again tomorrow.

Enjoy!

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Your Creation and for the weather that benefits us all. The cold and rain of this weekend will bring beautiful plants in April and crops this summer. You have provided for all of My needs. Help me to remember. Help me to remember that my plans may not be Your plans. My plans may be Your plans, but my time may not be Your time. My plans have value, but other lives may need me more today. Open my heart to be thankful for being able to do all that I can, as I can, when I can. Strengthen my servant’s heart so that interruptions in my plans do not spoil my attitude about doing for others.

Help me to be wise to know when is the right time for making another’s needs the priorities. I know that not everything that someone brings to me is actually mine to do. I need your help to know when to hand it back to them and when to take it on because they are unable to carry it for themselves. 

Lord, help me to remember that seasons come for all things. My season of planning does not always mean that the season I intend is the season that arrived. But You have also promised to make my plans good when they fall in line with Your will. As I read Your word, put on my heart desires that fulfill Your plan. Help me to guide my life by Your eternal plan foremost.

I thank You, Lord for the seasons of health that have been provided us thus far. Thank You for the knowledge You give of ways to support our health so that each day we can give more to You. I ask for Your strength as I fight the disease within that gets in my way of doing what You would have me to do. Help me to see You through the struggle and to find the blessings in this thorn of the flesh. Whatever road blocks come up in front of me, help me to navigate by Your wisdom. Help me to remember that I am not alone in my struggles and to reach out to others when I am able. 

Thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus, through whom I have access to bring my needs and to express my devotion to you. Thank You for the hope I have through His life given for me. May I live each day sacrificing my own so that Your will may be done.
In Jesus’ Name I pray 

Amen

 

 

 

 

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