At some point every weekend, I make out a schedule for myself. I list the things I plan to get done that week, as well as the events I plan to go to. Within the list of things to do, I try to estimate what I plan to get done each day.
It’s not because I’m a compulsive list-maker or anything. It’s just that I’ve found that, if I don’t make out a list like this, I start forgetting things I need to do. In fact, I sometimes have to amend the list, because I’ve forgotten something when I made it out. Still, having the list in the first place helps keep me on track. Plus, I’ll admit, it gives me a feeling of satisfaction when I’m able to cross things off the list.
The thing is, though, that I very rarely am able to stick to my list. It seems like every week, inevitably, something will happen to keep me from getting done all the things I planned to do. These things keep me from staying on schedule. They mess up my plans. I don’t like this. After all, the things on my schedule were the things I’d planned to do to serve God. I don’t like having those plans disrupted.
At least, I don’t like it at first. What I’ve learned, though, is that those things that disrupt my schedule generally involve serving God, too. In fact, sometimes the things that disrupt my schedule are a more important way of serving God, at that moment, than the things that are on my schedule.
That’s not to say the things on my schedule are bad things. They’re very good things. It’s just that sometimes, other things are more important. When they are, God usually has a way of letting me know that. Quite often, I come back from doing those “unscheduled” things feeling very satisfied, because I know that the unscheduled thing was the thing God wanted me to do at that moment.
God’s plans are better than mine. That’s pretty obvious, I suppose, but it can be easy for me to forget. It can be easy for me—with entirely good motives—to get so worried about my plans and my schedules that I miss chances for service that God puts in front of me. When I realize that later, I’m disappointed in myself.
The good news for me—and maybe the good news for you—is that when I do that, God usually gives me a second chance. If I’ve missed a chance to serve, God will usually put another one in front of me. Sometimes, it’s even the exact same one that I missed the first time. No matter how many chances to serve we miss, God keeps giving us more. Eventually, even though it messes up my schedule, I get a clue and take advantage of some of those chances.
God will never give up on us. God will keep interrupting our plans with chances to serve. The trick is to keep our eyes open to see those chances, and to keep our hearts open to take advantage of them. I’m better at that than I used to be, but I still have a ways to go. So I’ll keep working on it. And I know God will keep giving me chances to do exactly that.
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