Divine Surprises

Altha and I returned from Guatemala on Friday, two days later than our “planned” arrival. Now I am putting the word “planned” in quotations for a reason. Before we left on our trip, we were strongly led to pray for the Lord’s will to be done—purposefully letting go of any expectations of how things should be.

From beginning to end of our Guatemalan adventure, each day was uniquely and divinely designed to accomplish God’s purposes. There were some circumstances that resulted in our “planned” events being cancelled. From a natural perspective, these might be seen as disappointments. But let me be very clear: in submitting to God’s plans there can be no disappointment. Why?

Your disappointments are directly related to your expectations. Therefore, when you have truly surrendered your personal plans and expectations to HIS, you will not be disappointed. Rather, you will view all circumstances through the eyes of faith, seeing what God sees, understand what He is doing.

As a counselor, I know all too well how Christians tend to see these divine interventions as “interruptions,” or worse, “interferences.” Can you see what a difference it will make when you approach each day expecting to be surprised by God’s plans for you—“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). Believing that will make you much more content.

(In future postings, I will share with you some of the wonderful divine surprises that God provided during our 11 days in Guatemala.)