Plans

“The things you planned for us no one can recount to you, O Lord!” (Psalm 40:5)

Mornings.

They can be a slow way to begin the day, and many of us need to have our morning cup of coffee so we can get started. If it happens to be a Monday, then it’s even harder! The unfinished items on the task list that need to get done. Projects that won’t get pushed off again. If all goes as planned….and therein lies the rub.

Things don’t always go as planned.

Or rather they tend to go as God plans and directs them, which doesn’t always seem to coincide with how we want our day to go.

We have to always remember that we cannot control the events & circumstances of life, but you can control your reaction to those events and circumstances. I know for me a Monday can be the most frustrating day, as more than any other day at the end of the workday it can seem like the day that a got the least accomplished. But sometimes I would bet there were missed opportunities through the day that I wasn’t aware of as I was so focused on my list of items to check off.

What are the things that God had planned for me on those days that I blew right past? David writes in the verse above about his recognition of how much God planned for him in his life. Many of the translations use the phrase of God’s “thoughts toward us” which portrays the same underlying thought: God thinking about us, planning for us, having desires for us. In the midst of that it can be easy to get anxious about our plans and lives, yet Paul tells us how to handle our heart in those moments:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)