Discombobulated Again?

I’m a planner by nature. I keep a tight calendar, a to-do list, and usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to accomplish each day. But when God’s plans take me in a different direction, I get disoriented and, well,discombobulated! “Discombobulated!” I'll bet that's a word you haven't heard for a while! Appropriately, it means “having self-possession upset.” There you have it: one is discombobulated when he cannot “possess” his own plans—his plans are upset!

But it’s not just my plans that are upset. I get upset with myself: “Will I ever get to the point where I can respond contentedly when He redirects me?” I know that God’s plans are my only hope for joy and fulfillment. And God knows that when my own plans are thwarted, He gets my attention; and I turn to Him. You see, He loves me too much to allow me to continue on a wrong path.

I think this idea is well-captured by Watchman Nee. “After you give yourself to the Lord, He begins to break [upset] your plans. Everything seems to go wrong, and you protest and find fault with the ways of God. This is the tragedy of many Christians. My giving of myself to the Lord must be an initial fundamental act. Then, day by day, I must go on giving to him, not finding fault with his use of me, but accepting with praise even what the flesh finds hard.”