Our eighteen-year-old daughter Sonia and I are good traveling companions. We’ve got it down to a science. We don’t drink a lot before the trip, start with a full tank of gas and usually last about five hours of driving without a stop. Armed with Yahoo driving directions and a GPS I don’t like anything to impede our travel progress. Apparently folks on I-95 South did not get that memo the day we were headed towards Atlanta. We hit a major traffic jam. Sitting there, I began to think of this interruption in my plans. Was there at least a small sense of entitlement on my part that I expected this trip to take a specific number of hours with no “wasted” time? Certain personality types are more prone to agitation at things not going according to plan. It is easy to delude ourselves into thinking that we have a lot more control over circumstances than we actually do. Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans of a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” It is good for us to be organized and to think ahead, but we also must be flexible. As Christians we often seek divine guidance in our major decisions but must remain in constant communication with God through the ups and downs of each day. In these situations when we face delays or kinks in the plans we don’t have to have any “wasted” time. There might be room for prayer, personal reflection or serving people who come across our paths without an appointment. Rosaria Butterfield in her book The Secret Thoughts of An Unlikely Convert describes the intentionality with which she and her husband react to life’s interruptions. “We have decided that we are not inconvenienced by inconvenience. The needs of children come up unexpectedly. We are sure that the Good Samaritan had other plans that fateful day. Our plans are not sacred.” I want to live like that! Particularly in this busy society may we become a little more willing to welcome sudden changes of plans, especially if they involve people needing a visit or a kind gesture.
celiastone 