Curveballs

Did you know that only twenty-seven percent of college grads currently have a job related to their major? My younger brother John is an example. He has a degree from Boston University in literature. He currently lives in England with his wife Angeli and their two sons as a successful IT project manager. Shakespeare, information technology, close enough. I have another dear friend who lives in New Hampshire. She earned a degree in communications from the University of Hartford and has worked for the past thirty years at Barnes & Noble. I suppose books are a means of communication, right? As most of you know, I was going to be a world-famous rock and roll drummer! I ended up as a Postmaster in the small town of Salisbury, Massachusetts. No, things do not always go the way we had planned, do they?

The last thing I ever saw myself doing was going to seminary. Becoming a pastor? Me? Ask anyone. No one saw that coming. I know your path has not gone as planned either. Whether it was a marriage that didn’t work or a job that wasn’t a fit. Perhaps you were surprised by a pregnancy. Life is full of twists, turns, and curveballs. The one person who was not surprised – who cannot be surprised – is God. He is omniscient and He knows every choice, every circumstance, everything that we would encounter in our lives (good and bad) from the moment He created us in our mother’s womb. He has a plan and a purpose for us from the start. Often, we are uncooperative getting there because we have competing ideas, but in the end, His will – will be done.

Making plans, having goals, is a good thing, but remember, the Bible says, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (Proverbs 16:9). We always need to be willing to zig or zag. Adjust, shift, roll with the punches, consider things we did not see coming. Sometimes the curveballs are consequences of our own poor choices. That’s okay. He will use all our experiences to fulfill His plan for our lives. I know several people who battled addiction for years and finally won. Praise God! That rough experience prepared them to be some of the very best addiction counselors. God uses all our life events to prepare us for the future. His future. Believe it or not, I am actually a very shy person. I really am. I always have been. Why did I play drums in front of crowds for fifteen years? God was getting me used to being in front of people, which I have been doing every Sunday now for the past twenty-five years.

It is good to have a plan. Renée and I are planning for retirement. I have no idea if our plans will come to fruition, but we have a plan. Understanding all the while. Your will be done, Lord, not mine. Go ahead and make plans but try to remember Who’s in charge. In the end, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (Proverbs 16:9). And His way, will be better. Every time.        

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