Summer is the busiest time of the year on our island, with lots of family, friends, and tourists coming to enjoy our community. As a direct result, various entities such as the church plan for more activities, which means that more people are doing more work to help make these activities and events successful. Certain efforts, such as putting up tents, requires multiple volunteers working together at the same time to accomplish the objectives, which means that during this busiest time of the year, volunteers will need to make time in their own busy schedules to commit to that specific endeavor.
The person organizing the specific task hopefully understands how many people with certain skills and abilities are required to get the job done. Sometimes, all that is needed is a group of able-bodied people. But sometimes a very specific skill set or a very specific piece of equipment is needed to succeed. In that instance, the organizer is completely dependent upon the person with either that skill or equipment to be at the work site, or else completion of the task is impossible. A plan is formulated, and the only option for success is if that person keeps their word.
Life is often like this, where we select a course of action that is completely dependent upon someone else doing exactly what they say they will do. Unfortunately, we’ve all been let down by other people who didn’t keep their word and have left us hanging, unable to do what we had planned to do. And sometimes that is a very painful experience. We learn who we can trust to keep their word, and we learn who will still ultimately keep their word, just not on the schedule that they agreed to, and we adjust our plans accordingly. The bottom line for us is that will ultimately make allowances in our planning for the likelihood that others may not do what we need them to do, when we need them to do it, and that could mean that the end result is different than what we had originally intended.
Fortunately for us, God behaves differently. The author of the letter to the Hebrews points out that not only is the Lord my helper, but that he will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5-6). When I set my eyes on doing His will (as opposed to my own), I have this unbreakable promise of a holy helper who will help me navigate whatever challenges might come before me. He’s never late, and he always provides whatever I need to get the job done according to his standards. And because his promise never fails, I don’t have to worry or fear that I will be unable to complete the task. However, the major adjustment that I must make is realizing that this is ultimately about me following his plans, instead of demanding that he follows my plans. After all, while God keeps his promises, I’ve broken many myself, and while my idea of success may have a limited perspective, God’s concept of success comes from an eternal, omniscient point of view.
So my friends, set your plans according to the one who will never leave you nor forsake you, knowing that you can place your life in his hands as you set out to accomplish the work that he has given you to do.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron