Here in North America, it is winter – which means plans we make are always subject to change due to weather. This past Saturday, the Interfaith Council and my congregation had planned a large-scale service of hope and healing on the anniversary of the Newtown tragedy. The plans included many musicians, choirs, clergy, a senator or two, even satellite parking provisions. We’d worked on it for weeks. And then it snowed. Hard. With ice. We had to reschedule for the next night. We carried it off, with fewer participants and a smaller crowd (and still the mayor and a senator…). It was beautiful. But not quite what we had planned.
This trivial example pales in comparison to the change of plans Joseph and Mary experienced in our faith story. Their future was set – they were engaged, would soon be married; Joseph had a good living as a carpenter, Mary was young and healthy. The plan looked good.
Except God had a different plan – a way, way bigger plan. A plan that required an unbelievable amount of faith, to believe in something that could not possibly be proven in any empirical way. A plan that demanded an inconceivable amount of courage, to defend a “conceiving” that looked an awful lot like sin and betrayal. A plan that would bring some joy, yes, and also a great deal of heartache and uncertainty.
What plans of yours have been disrupted – by God, or by the choices of others, or by circumstances beyond your control? Have you grieved those lost plans? It’s worth naming them, if only to better let them go.
Looking back, sometimes we can see blessing in what happened instead of our plans, though not always. (Today's country song link is Garth Brooks’ Unanswered Prayers – not a profound song, but somewhat apt...)
How creative and resilient were you in adapting to the new circumstances? Have you adjusted yet?
Maybe you’re in the midst of a life-long “plan change.” I, for instance, thought I’d be married. I’m not…. Yet. Some of us thought we’d have careers that we don’t, or illness or other choices have resulted in a change of direction.
What is your prayer in response to your plan changes? Where do you sense the Holy Spirit’s involvement in your life? Can you glimpse a bigger plan in what has happened? Name it.
The big movie statement on this is It’s a Wonderful Life, as George Bailey discovers that his continually setting aside his life plans has made him not in failure, but a blessing to countless people, including himself. It is considered a holiday film because of its big Christmas climax – but it also echoes the challenges facing Mary and Joseph in our nativity story.
I surely hope they were blessed by the new trajectory of their lives as they embraced God’s plan.I believe with all my heart that the world has been blessed by them. I have.
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