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Day Four: Afraid of Spare Time
Proverbs 19:21: “Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.” For a lot of years, I attempted to keep my anxiety at bay by having a towering to-do list. If I’m being honest, I still have a tendency to do that. Being busy is a built-in form of control. If you have places to be every second of the day, you feel a sense of ownership and authority over your time.
So, while I can get overwhelmed by everything, I also sign up for everything. I tend to make a lot of plans until I don’t have space for any "yes-es". I am one who makes many plans. Are you? Proverbs tells us that we can make as many plans as we please, but the Lord’s plans are the ones that will actually happen. It’s like, my three-year-old can be as detailed as her vocabulary allows in expressing her hopes for a trip to the playground. But, the bottom line is, if the person who feeds her and straps her into her carseat has other plans, well, sorry Baby.
It’s the same way with God. He wants us to believe that His plans are best for us, because He knows that resting in the plans He has will bring us peace. We think we’ll have more calm if we’re in control of our own plans, but that’s about as adorable a thought as my little three-year-old trying to plan the logistics of a trip to Disney.
Plans and goals are good, but if we want to live in a posture of peace, we need to learn to hold onto our plans loosely and allow God to be the one who is truly in control of our calendar.
-- Are you overscheduled? Why? Are there things you can cut from your calendar that will allow you more time to love and serve in ways that you haven’t planned? Pray and ask God to help you abandon your desire for control, and accept His always-loving, never-manipulative hand in your life. Ask that He use you as you fulfill your calendar obligations and that He will give you wisdom about what to say yes to.
Additional Reading: Matthew 6:25-34; Romans 8:12-38
About this Plan
What does the gospel say about your fears? What does it say about the irrational ones, like sinkholes in the Target parking lot? How does it speak to the rational ones, like PET scan predictions? And does the gospel have a word for the fears you feel you'll have for life, like the possibility of losing the one you love most?
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