When Things Don’t Go as Planned

How do you handle it when things don’t go as planned?

Big AND Small

For me, I feel like I typically roll with the punches, but my wife might tend to disagree with me. The funny thing is that I typically have a much easier time dealing with big issues that don’t go as planned than I do with the small things. For example, our plan to move our family to Florida and go to seminary didn’t go as planned, yet we trusted God and simply said, “Ok God, you know better than we do… so what are we supposed to do?” Now, I am the same guy who acts like his dog just died when he opens the pantry for an evening snack and discovers there is no cereal!

I think the issue for me is that I have a view of God that primarily involves the big things. I look at something like us running out of money for seminary and say, “well, it would appear that God is using this situation to form us more into the image of his Son. He has a plan for us and apparently it involves us not going to seminary right now.” However, something small happens and I suddenly forget that God is involved in both the big AND small things.

Seminary Appication

As a seminary student, now is the perfect time to remind yourself that God is in the big AND small. Whether you facing financial difficulty, marital struggles, issues with your kids, struggles with work… or maybe your late for class because of traffic or you forgot your lunch at home… this is the perfect time to step back and remember that God is with you. In both the big and small, the scripture instructs us to “Cast your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). He cares and we are to cast these cares up Him.

GoingtoSeminary.com

On a personal level I need to remember this more often (right Jenn?). As it relates to goingtoseminary.com… well, I had grand plans for the holiday break. Alas, I was give the opportunity to help one of my best friends (a church planter in Richmond VA) to build his church’s new website. After completing the bulk of this work, my hard drive gave up the ghost (anyone know an Apple certified tech in Bellingham?). That means that all the GTS work I was hoping to do this weekend is delayed… alas, good things are still coming down the pike… They’ll just be released a little slower than planned. So, stay tuned.