What If You Were The Plan?预览

I don’t know why I do it. Too often I will get an idea to do something and even against good sense, I press onward. It’s usually a larger than life, too-much-work-for-the-time-we-have sort of endeavor. Take the malfunctioning garage door instance. 

The repairman informed me the door was so old the parts were not available and would need to be replaced. We had three days to unload the back half of the garage. It was stacked to the ceiling with rubber tubs and boxes. 

No problem. 

Why simply replace one door when there are two? And while you have half the stuff out, why not unload everything? Then could we epoxy the floor, paint the walls and ceiling, and create a mudroom solution I found on Pinterest? I mean, we had three days! 

Another time there was the marathon idea. 

We purchased a book and trained for months. When race day came, we put on our running attire, attached our racing bibs and took off with the masses of other enthusiasts. What I wasn’t prepared for was the cheering from the crowd. They didn’t know me personally. All they knew was that I was running the race. About mile 23.5 when I had ran further than ever in my life and everything hurt, I remember people clapping and yelling, 

“Thank you for running. You can do it. You can finish strong! Keep going!” 

And that’s when the importance of the race I was running became clear. It was the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. There, surrounding me, was a crowd of people who experienced great tragedy and endured. My running was actually meaningful. It brought hope. And their encouragement helped me run my race well. 

This is the significance of remembering the lives of the faithful who have gone before us. The testimonies of these who demonstrated great faith at the cost of harrowing loss or against extreme odds are given as an encouragement to cheer us on to run the Christian life well. 

What we’ve learned these last weeks is that there’s no place for indifference. Running this race is not some hair-brained, off-the-wall nuance for the few. It’s not some crazy idea of mine. Every believer is signed up. This is The Plan.

Friend, you have a race to run. 

Find your place. It’s time to go.

Let’s start running.

For more information about what God is doing through America World Adoption and One Orphan and how you can be a part, visit https://awaa.org/.