Plan

Do you remember the A-Team?  I loved what Hannibal used to say.  When things worked out he would say ... "I love it when a plan comes together."  So, I'm going to say that phrase with a few caveats.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."  I love it when a plan comes together but I need to remember (v:11) they are God's plans and things work out best if I latch on to His plan rather than make one of my own.  This is hard for me because I love the creative side of doing things.  But God is the master creator and He is way better at planning than I am.  I must become less so He can become more in this great plan.

The second caveat is one that is a necessity if I want the plan to happen right.  I must do my part while seeking Him every moment.  He is in the process.  He is in the people.  He is in the prayer.  He is part of the story that is unfolding and I will miss seeing His handiwork if I work without keeping seeking eyes on what God is doing.

Yesterday we met in our Administrative Board session at NOON.  It was good to share the Good News of how God's plan for AUMC is unfolding.  It seems that the seed for Red Bird Mission and Belize that has been planted by faithful people here is growing and spreading it's roots out to other churches and other denominations.  There was a day when this might have been a bit intimidating because it means we (at AUMC) must give up some control.  But then I reflected on God's plan expressed in a long prayer in the Gospel of John.  Verse 17:22-23 says "The glory you have given me I have given them so that they may be one as we are one.  I in them and you in me, that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and I have loved them as you have loved me."  I believe God's great power and glory are shown more in our unity than almost any other way (at least to those looking in from outside).  When we forget our divisions and remember our mission, our purpose and our calling it points straight to Jesus and God the Father.  I love it when a plan comes together!  Randy