Oh My Stars

"Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails," 

Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)

When was the last time God interrupted your plans to show you His?

Jesus was not a stranger to being interrupted. He had much bigger and more important things he was doing in his life than I could ever imagine. But God still put people and circumstances in his midst that interrupted his purpose.  In one instance, we see in Mark 2 that as Jesus was teaching in Peter’s home, he was interrupted by some commotion above his head. Some men needed to get to Jesus and got creative by making a hole in the roof and lowering their lame friend down to Jesus to be healed. That’s a significant interruption! An interruption from His teaching for something just as important, forgiveness and healing. Jesus not only healed the man physically, he also forgave his sins, giving him the gift of salvation.

I, too, experience numerous interruptions throughout my days. As we see in Proverbs, "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." This is a reminder that I need to remember that my plans are not divine but often can or will be broken or changed. It can be dangerous to hold too tight to my own plans. I need to be aware that God, in his perfect wisdom, will show me that His plans are better. Jesus demonstrated this truth and showed us that this man’s salvation and healing were worth the significant interruption.

My husband and I recently spent a week exploring an Idaho lake community. One night during our stay, I woke up in the middle of the night (as I often do) and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I was warm, so I got up and opened the window to let some cool air in. As I went to the window and looked out - I saw something I hadn’t seen in too many years. Stars. So many stars! It was majestic and so peaceful. We live in a big city with so much light pollution, we don’t get night skies like that. We can see a few stars here and there in the too-bright-for-night sky, but this was all altogether breathtaking!

This sky stopped me in my tracks. It was so stunning! If it wasn’t for the mosquitoes, I could have laid outside under the sky all night and not have cared that I was missing sleep. This awestruck night left me wondering how many times in my life I have had my day or night interrupted, and all I did was complain or get agitated. Had I not been awoken, I would have missed something truly remarkable. I was reminded that interruptions can be magical and soul-filling! Of course, I need an open heart and open mind to see the beauty in these moments!  That vulnerability often requires me to get out of my comfort zone. But the beauty in that is it allows God to stir my heart and show me that His plans are so much better than mine!

If you are like me, you fill your calendar with endless to-dos. The busyness I’ve become so familiar with often leaves me with little margin or patience for interruptions. Which, truth be told, doesn’t allow for very many soul-filling moments. I don’t want to feel like that. I want to experience God’s awesomeness in all the places! I realize I have to be proactive to experience those. I must welcome the interruptions and find the beauty in all of them. Of course, the reality is that some interruptions will not be what we consider good.  But He is there in the beauty and the chaos, the good and the hard, showing me something I need to see. 

I long to experience more soul-filling moments like that night under the starry sky. They are there; I just need to release my expectations and let go of my plans in order to have a holy interruption!

Where in your life do you need to loosen your grip on your own plans so that God can show you His?