The Best Laid Plans

I've often said that plans look good on paper. They'll work just as we have foreseen and envisioned them to happen. That is, until you add the human element.

I've learned over the years though that just because plans don't go the way we want them doesn't mean that we have failed. In fact, often God causes us to rely on him instead of our own abilities.

I would say that today was a lesson in reliance. We've planned out how we think the VBS program should go in the Quechua villages. We've divided into teams and each been assigned our roles. We've planned our respective parts so that we can be effective in the ministry that God has us here for.

But today, we did not follow those plans. And it was frustrating at times - at least for me. I've learned to generally go with the flow over the years, and so I was able to cope with the necessary adjustments. But, you see, I had this plan. We were going to come in, engage the kids, share the gospel via translation, and they were supposed to get saved. Whole villages of children were supposed to come to Christ. It was supposed to look a lot like the book of Acts.

God, however, had other plans. One part of his plan was to remind me that, while I am here to help spread the gospel, our ultimate aim is to assist the Rockwells in the ministry that God has for them. And Larry was encouraged by what happened today.

We went to two villages, and we did our craft in each one. The craft was the gospel bracelets with colored beads for each part of the gospel. Gold reminds us of heaven, where God is. Black reminds us of the sin that keeps us from God. Red is Christ's blood shed for us. White is the purity that we have when we believe in Jesus and he takes away our sin. And green reminds us to grow in Christ-likeness. So we were able to share the basics of the gospel message with many children today - and even some of their parents. But more importantly, we've helped Larry and Sandy make connections that they will be able to follow up on and continue to show Christ to.

I am humbled and gladdened by God's change of plans. We have had a very effective day today, in spite of our plans not "working." God's plans are far greater anyway, and he knows better than we what to do.

As we approach tomorrow, I have no idea what to expect. But I will be leaning a little more on God to guide us and equip us to serve the Rockwells as they seek to reach the Quechua of Peru.

Please continue to lift us up. We are daily in need of God's grace to accomplish the good works that HE has for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

The Danger of Hiding from the Dark

I have a confession to make. I'm not proud of it, and I certainly don't like having to say it, but here it goes. I'm afraid of the dark. There. I feel better. Even when I was like 13-14 years old, I was still sleeping with a night light on. Why? Because I was afraid that something would come out of the darkness and hurt me. A burglar would break in and steal my stuff. Someone would come in and hurt my family or even me. The pops and creaks that the house made while lying awake at night would terrify me, and I would lay as still as possible, trying to calm my heavy breathing. I would lie still and hope that the threat would not harm me. The darkness was always "out there," and the darkness intended to do me harm or send harmful things my way.

I think a lot of people in church can act this way. They meet for their "holy huddles" week in and week out, and they'll often point to the "evils" of those outside: Hollywood, media, educators, liberal politicians...you name it, we blame it. And so we try and shelter ourselves from all these influences. In a sense, we try to be night lights for each other. We try to ride out the dark night until the day is at hand. But in so doing, we fail.

You see, we are often looking for the darkness outside, but in so doing we neglect the darkness within. When we see evil as an external influence, we will try to shelter ourselves from it, giving it room to grow on the inside. Paul took the opposite approach. In Romans 7:18 he declares: "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh." Later he laments, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:23).

It's easy to stand on the inside and condemn the darkness outside. But it's tough when we see our own inner darkness and come face-to-face with our own spiritual ugliness. We need Christ to shine in our hearts. We need for him to expose the hypocrisy, doubt, fear, self-righteousness, judgmentalism, etc., that hold us back from being a light - not to each other, but to the world.

How can we move forward to be the "light of the world" Jesus called us to be (Matthew 5:14)? What ways have we hidden that light, and how can we "shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15) rather than shut the world out for the sake of our "holy huddles"?