“Bird Watching” by Morgan Hopper
I am a recovering planner.
My parents will tell you that even at a young age, I HAD to know the rundown. Where are we going and what time do we leave? What are we going to name the new puppy you just told me I couldn’t have? By the age of 15, I had my whole college career planned out.
When I made it to college, I learned to turn my weakness into a strength. If I was going to be organized,I was going to be good at it. Almost every title or job description I’ve ever filled has involved the “word” planner.
The hardest lesson I have learned, and continue to learn, is that MY plans don’t really matter. I can spend hours slaving over floor plans; I can bust my brain trying to sort excel sheets, but with the blink of an eye, God can change my everything.
Just. Like. That.
For years I tried to fight this concept. I’ve made my head hurt trying to think days, weeks and years into the future.
Here come the verses, because they are my nourishment. God’s Word is my daily bread, my sustenance, my fuel. What we fill up on will eventually overflow from us!
Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Submit is such a strong word. Merriam-Webster says submit means to accept or yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person.
Submitting anything to anyone when you’re a planner is NOT fun. It’s stressful; it causes even more over-planning, and it can legit give me panic attacks. If I can’t lean on my own understanding, how I am suppose to accept something??
I NEED TO UNDERSTAND. Right?
I have had so much change in my life over the past year, that planning, without prayer and submission, can keep me up at night. Without God’s hope and the remembrance of His promises, the unknown can be terrifying.
If you had told me a year ago that my life was going to do a complete 180, I would have laughed at you…
because it wasn’t part of my plan.
Little did I know, God was giggling. I wasn’t living according to His plan. HE was not laughing in a mean way.
HE was laughing in an,
“OH SWEET GIRL, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!” kinda way:)
HE loves me and HE loves you, too much to let our plans succeed, when OUR plans are not HIS BEST YES for our lives!
When I started to feel safe and comfortable with my plan, God forced me into faith. He forced me to abandon my plan and take slow steps onto a dimly lit path, that I hadn’t even seen to begin with.
SPOILER ALERT:
God’s plan is so much more glorious than anything we could ever picture for ourselves!
Do I have rough days? Yes.
Do you?
Are some days full of emotions that I can’t even name? You bet.
Do you have “emotion-full” days too?
When our minds run wild with questions, may we remember that we are more valuable than birds.
We can learn a thing or two by BIRD WATCHING!
Luke 12: 22- 31 “24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”
About the Author: Morgan Hopper
Morgan is a Huntsville native who loves Jesus, rescue dogs and anything literary. She enjoys sharing about her walk with God and speaking life to everyone she meets. Morgan works for Fleet Feet Huntsville as a marketing director, which blends her adoration of running with her passion for helping others. Keep up with Morgan on her blog, https://southernlysaid.wordpress.com
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