LAST WORD

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Feels like it has been a week since I shared with you.  Oh, that is because it has.  At least I think so.  Last week was so full of “things to do”, “plans”, “trips” and “initiatives”.  And yet with a simple text all of that changed for me and for my family, especially my dad.

And what came to mind was this from Proverbs, “We may make our plans, but God has the last word.” – 16:1 (GNT)

For those of you close to me and my family and a part of the several thousand on Facebook you know my dad who is now 84 has been going through a rough patch.  Gastroschisis, what appear to be staggering tension related headaches, weight loss and now sometimes crippling anxiety landed him in the emergency room and then eventually on a familiar floor at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton Ohio.  I say familiar because I have spent a healthy amount of time on that floor dealing with the consequences of being less than healthy.  It was the floor I rediscovered sobriety and began the journey in recovery.

And while none of us want to be DISRUPTED like this, the LORD, like the LORD does has been cultivating something during this time with my dad and it was affirmed by a good friend via text last week.  GOD asks for us to ABIDE in Him, not STRIVE in Him (John 15).

So while there was a modicum of stress regarding the gatherings we were postponing, the initiatives that we were putting on the back burner for a spell, the trips that were put on hold, the Lord reminded me via this friend that while GOD appreciates the WORK, it isn’t always about the WORK. 

Sometimes it is about leaning in, reprioritizing, and responding to HIS plan.

I think I have mentioned in the past that my wife, Dr. Delaney, consistently reminds me that we must always attend to our PRIMARY CONGREGATION.  So, we did. 

I will be honest it didn’t feel so good at the outset, but I was deeply grateful for the good counsel and for the decision to just “be” with dad and make him the focus of mine and our attention.

It gave me time to update my friends and family and witness him be so BLESSED by the innumerable prayers, affirmations, and encouragements.  He has been overwhelmed by the outpouring and I firmly believe that he has been buoyed by them.

He has most certainly needed them.  Us too.

And that brings me to the point today.  

Simply put, we sometimes make plans.  They can be GREAT plans full of merit, faith, purpose and reverence.  But GOD indeed has the last word.  He can (and sometimes does) shift the schedule on a dime.  He can REPRIORITIZE our focus.  Our job is not question but to pause, listen, embrace and ABIDE in the shift; trusting that HE will make ALL THINGS RIGHT if we surrender the CONTROL listening for …His reassuring voice saying: Don’t yield to fear… Revelation 1:17 - TPT

And remembering that He KNOWS THE PLANS He has made for us… (Jeremiah 29:11), so the LAST word is and always has been His. 

Our job? 

Simply ABIDE. 

I love you all!

Opportunities for Hope