For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite verses in Scripture has been Proverbs 19:21 which says, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." There is so much security in that verse, so much that just puts my heart at rest in almost any circumstance. This verse never fails to ring true for me, and just last week I had a very character-building experience with God's purpose versus my plan (not that it's anything new for Him to do!).
My plan last week was thrown completely off track for a few days. I had planned to be in Canada by the Saturday before last week as soon as finals were finished for Freshman year. I was going to drive with Amanda to Lousiville for a night, then off to Niagara. But we had one very significant problem: I had no passport and therefore no way to cross the border into a different country. It was in the mail, and it was supposed to have been there by that Tuesday or Wednesday, but we kept checking the mail, and it never came. Wednesday afternoon, two days before we were supposed to leave, we sat down together and prayed over the situation - that the passport would come, that we would have patience, and that whatever happened, we would know what to do. I called the passport agency and talked to a guy who we like to describe as "talking to Jesus". He was so helpful and just helped me not stress about the situation so much. The next eight times I called over the next few days were not so helpful and stress-relieving, but we knew that God was watching over us and He had a better plan for us. My passport came by that following Tuesday afternoon and we finally left for Canada on Wednesday morning, but boy, was that an adventure for us both.
I can only imagine what we were being protected from by not being able to go to Canada when we did. Or maybe we weren't being protected from anything and God just wanted to teach us a few things and bless us a little bit more in Wilmore. I can say without a doubt that He taught me a lot.
I think the most obvious lesson was patience. It took me a lot of patience to call the passport agency as many times as I did - especially when it came to talking to the guy who, by that time, knew less about how the conversation should go than I did (I just wanted to direct the whole conversation at that point as I had done it over and over and over). It took me a lot of patience to sit and wait for something that I had no secure information about as far as what to expect. We didn't know whether to plan for one day of entertainment and housing, or three days.
Another lesson was trusting God and his provision. He surely showed me a lot of grace through this and he showed me so much love and care. I have never been so thankful for easy-going and generous people in my life. We were moved out of the dorms Thursday afternoon and had everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) packed into Amanda's car, which meant that we were essentially "homeless." God provided a place for us to stay with my cousin who lives in the area, and my were we thankful for that! We even had a few other people offer up their houses for us to stay. We had meals every day, and a bed to sleep in - things that we suddenly did not need to worry about.
Amanda and I learned a lot about living one day at a time. We learned about trusting God one day at a time. We learned about waiting for God's provision in His timing. We learned about being grateful and patient. And we certainly learned how to work together through a very frustrating situation.
This wasn't a great experience, that is for sure, but it was a growing one. And if I can grow as a person out of waiting for a passport to come, I can say it was worth the frustration and delays. Although we were held back from our plans and getting Amanda back home for a few days, God gave us so much in the process. He gave us more time with some people, he gave us a trip to the Cincinnati zoo, he gave us time to just relax and do nothing, and he gave us a learning experience.
I am pretty certain that if I had decided to just mope around for those 8 days waiting for my passport to come, I would not have had the same positive feelings about the whole thing - and that would have been a waste. I'm thankful for a God who loves me and cares for me and will put me through hardships to grow me as a person. It's not fun, but I'm better because of it - and it gave me something new to blog about!
You see, I had many plans in my heart and I was very set on them happening in MY time. But God has a greater plan for me, and His purpose prevailed. I would rather my life be guided by His hands and His perfect plan than my selfish desires to have a good time. He knows more about what I need than I do - and I didn't even realize how much I needed to be humbled by this experience. I'm thankful for a God who knows what to do for me to make me a better person. I'm thankful for a God who hold me in his hands no matter where I am.
