The Life We Planned
We are all reticent to leave the familiar. Even if the familiar is detrimental to our well-being, it’s what we know. Few really want to exchange the known for the unknown. This is especially true after patterns of living have been established. We simply can’t conceive of things being any other way. It’s easy to see this as a deficiency in others not applying the same standard to ourselves.
If there is any age at which this is less true, it is among the truly young. When life stretches out before us with limitless (we think) possibilities, we are ready to make a deal. Sailing the seven seas and all that. As we age, our lifestyle becomes more established, our thoughts more clear and our plans concrete. But the wide world is still out there, and sometimes it calls to us.
Joseph Campbell wrote, “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Isn’t it funny (strange) that the life that sustains us may need to be traded for an uncertain life that will ultimately fulfill us? Many people are living well-heeled and unfulfilled. There is simply no thrill or verve in what they are doing. Security- yes. Satisfaction- no.
Waiting for you is a wonderful life-plan that God has designed. Paul had the trappings of success in his day but came to view them as rubbish for the excellent life in Christ. He “suffered the loss of all things” when he traded up to deprivation for the sake of Jesus. When he lost his innate strength, he became strong in Christ. Even this became a source of joy to him as he traded his plans for the life God had waiting for him.
Few are called to extremes, but God has a claim on and a call for every life. What the world would be if this call were answered by each we will never know. All we can say for sure is that the plans God has for you are much better than your own. They may not seem secure, but they are. The dividends will never fail, and the luster will never dim. We will never really be happy until we get rid of our plans to have the life that is waiting for us.
Sterl
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