God works it all out His way!

“I love it when a plan comes together!!”  One of my favorite TV shows from when I was a kid was The A-Team.  And, of course, the pinnacle of every show was when Col. Hannibal Smith lit his cigar and quoted the aforementioned line.  You KNOW they had the objected licked when Hannibal said this.  And, it was amazing how it always worked out.  (Good Hollywood writers)

Last night in Bible Study we were talking about how God worked everything in the Christmas story out.  In an amazing way!!  Read the first couple of chapters of Matthew and see how it all worked out … faith, fact, common sense … God worked it all out in HIS way!!

It reminded me of a time in my life when God worked some things out like that.  Miraculously.  Not long after I accepted Christ (at the age of 23) God started calling me to ministry.  And I ran … I ran so far away.  I told myself it was natural to desire such a thing since I was so on fire and in love with God!!!  (Looking back now, that was the LAMEST excuse I used). Krissy was born in November of 1990, and then I KNEW God wouldn’t want me to leave a good job (in which Diana didn’t have to work but could stay home with our baby) and go back to school.  It just seemed to be too much.  I ran … I ran so far away.

When God finally started really pinning me into a corner, I did something I should’ve been doing all along.  I had kept all of this to myself for a while.  Frankly, I dreaded telling my wife and new mother to my child that God was calling me to ministry and I would probably have to leave my job …  When I finally told her, I discovered how God really does work in the details.  YEARS ahead of me.  When I expected the woman I love to look at me and tell me I was crazy, she did quite the opposite.  She told me something that absolutely blew my mind.

At this point in our lives, Diana and I had been either dating, engaged, or married for almost 7 years.  We knew each other pretty well.  And I’d known her since she was 17.  She told me something she’d never told me:  That 9 years earlier, when she was 15, she’d been at a youth retreat and God clearly told her something.  Now, if you know Diana like I do, this was going to be significant.  She is not the type to throw around the “God told me” stuff.  At that retreat, God told her she would marry a pastor.  She also shared that when she knew I was the one, and she KNEW I wasn’t going to be that pastor, she just figured maybe she’d misunderstood God.

I write today to say this:  God makes Hannibal Smith look like an amateur.  (Maybe it will take an A-Team fan to get that).

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”