The Master Plan

I’ve had a rough week friends.

We all have them, I know, but this one ranked up there for me. My first thought was to minimize it, to say it's ok because I am stronger for it. 

This is what I actually wrote at first. "That it's ok, I'm fine now, all is well". 

I tell myself not to be weak, to not let others know I can't handle everything, that I don't have it all together. But I want to be authentic with you right now- sometimes I am not ok. Sometimes I isolate myself, I hold on to my pain, and I forget that I am not alone.  

I thought about this when I was staking my cucumbers this week. I let them grow for a while-left to their own devices, they grow in all different directions, going this way and that. As the vines (or petioles) begin growing and the tendrils start reaching and grasping for a handhold, I add stakes for them to hold on to. The first stake is to give the cucumber an idea of where it might want to grab. Maybe it takes hold and maybe it doesn’t. I may have to adjust and move my stake around based on the growth. I add further stakes to guide it in the direction I want it to go. 

With just a glance at the arrangement of the stakes, one may think the placement is arbitrary and random, but as the gardener, I know what the master plan is. I know where I what the vines to go.

God tells us that he will never leave us or forsake us in Deuteronomy 31:6, but still I forget sometimes. Maybe you do too. 

We go along grasping for something to hold on to, hoping for an answer to prayer, perhaps even wondering what in the world God is doing? God knows the master plan. He knows where he wants us to go. We just need to follow the guidance he stakes out for us.

To look at this picture, it is hard to tell what the master plan is. That is the way it feels in my life sometimes, when I’m in it, feeling lost and alone. All these random happenings. But Jesus tells us to take heart! He knew we would sometimes feel this way. That is encouraging to me. 

I don’t have to know the whole plan, I don’t have to do this by myself, and I don’t even have to figure out where to go for help. He is right there the whole time, waiting for me to reach out and grab hold. It doesn’t mean all the bad stuff goes away, but it does mean I can try to find some peace, I can try to be courageous, and I can remember that the battle is already won!  

I don't have to know the master plan; I just have to take a closer look at my part. 

Bible References:

 

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

⁶ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

 

John 16:33 (NIV)

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”