Hello, again! It's been a week or so and I'd like to post every week if not more, so I'm seizing the free time I have here to try and get a post in.
So. Yesterday, while doing some reading, I came across Proverbs 29:19. It says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." The first thing I thought was: "WOAH." You know, like that face you see sometimes when someone realizes they're about to get owned by Jason Bourne? Yeah, that face. That's kinda what mine looked like. The reason is this: I don't know many other places the Bible says something so important in such a blunt fashion. Unfortunately, I also don't know many things in the Bible that seem to be ignored more. How many times do we plan our lives, not knowing whether we'll even see tomorrow? My CEF team was led in a short Bible study by a woman named Mrs. Yancey, and one of the biggest things she stressed was the fact that all the time we have is now. Before then, I hadn't really thought about it, but she's right. Christ really is coming back, and we don't know how long we've got. However, we do know that we have now. Because of this, it's our responsibility to use all the time we have showing Christ to the world. Seems like a big sacrifice, and it is, but it's nothing compared to what He gave for us.
These were the things I thought about after reading Proverbs 29:19. Then, a quote was brought to mind: "The past has passed, the future is a mystery, but now is a gift. That is why they call it the present." Now, ignoring the fact that I'm quoting a turtle from Kung Fu Panda, the quote actually has some truth to it. We can't do anything about what's passed. It's gone. We don't even know if there will be a future, and the concept OF the "future" is confusing anyway. However, what we have is the here and now. This time IS a gift, a present, and we will be held accountable to God for how we use it.
I titled this post because of something it meant to me, in relation to Proverbs 29:19. As you might know, I was blessed with the chance to spend my entire summer teaching kids. Six weeks in Birmingham, and another week in the streets of third-world Guatemala. But before the summer started, I was worried: I wanted to work with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship, the first six weeks), but I wanted to do it for the wrong reasons. I was in a spiritually dark time, and didn't know if I would be approved to work that summer. I can tell you right now, I shouldn't have been. I was really out of touch at that point. However, God allowed me to get accepted, and then to be surrounded by some of the strongest teenage believers I've ever met for 7 weeks straight. God used that time where I was actually serving to bring me to Himself, and I'm so incredibly grateful to Him for that.
So, in relation to the verse, God had a plan for me even though I had my own. His plan won, and I'm extremely happy about it. It's like Jeremiah 29:11 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 a hope and a future." I feel closer to Him at this point in my life than I probably ever have, all because of His plan. His presence is constant, and it actually reminds me of a quote by Relient K. "Loneliness and solitude are two things not to get confused, because I spend my solitude with You..." - Relient K, Therapy. God changed my heart this summer and gave me a heart for Him and his Word, and I pray that He'll continue to fan the flame in my heart. Actually, that reminds me of another quote from the same song. "The past cannot subtract a thing from what I might do for You..." I'm obviously a huge Relient K fan; their songs shall serve as basis for quite a few of my posts at some point, provided Christ doesn't come back first.
