By Chip Hinds

“I’ve Got This!!!”

Said Someone Who Was Clueless

But Wait…

Are things not going according to Plan?

Oh, the treasures we have learned from the 2020 pandemic. Number one among those is to “Focus on Jesus and follow his plan.” Number two among those is, “We Are Better Together.” Yes, we had those themes before the pandemic. But our appreciation has grown exponentially through experiencing the pandemic.

LEARNING FROM THE FUTURE-SELF

Our daughter shared with us a newly circulating humorous video portraying a woman four months ago being contacted by her future-self. The future-self is from today’s timeframe. The future-self informs the woman’s self of four months ago she has come to give her a message. She says she has both good news and bad news. Then she asks the woman’s self of four months ago which she wants to hear first, the good news or the bad news?

The woman chooses to hear the good news first and during the interview discovers all the things she thinks would be important are insignificant and things she could never have conceived have taken control of her reality.  Likewise, all her carefully laid plans and jobs are now not even remotely important and in fact, she doesn’t even have a job in 4 months, but she has plenty of time on her hands to do nothing except what she chooses to do alone.

The woman learns she has control of knowing she is not in control.

FIVE THINGS WE CANNOT CHANGE

In his book The Five Things We Cannot Change, author David Richo suggests we reframe the notion of assuming control by adopting an alternative view:“We do not let go of control; we let go of the belief we have control.”

The five things we cannot change according to David Richo are depicted in the following conditions:

  1. Everything changes and ends.
  2. Things do not always go according to plan.
  3. Life is not always fair.
  4. Pain is a part of life.
  5. People are not loving and loyal all the time

But WAIT!

There is someone in control. The ONE in control is God and oftentimes God is preparing us for what is going to happen next.

[bctt tweet=”There is someone in control. The ONE in control is God… – Chip Hinds”

President Loren Stacy shared the following YouVersion Bible blog with us today. It is from their April 28, 2020 blog.

DOES LIFE FEEL OUT OF CONTROL? REMEMBER THESE 3 THINGS:

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by an uncertain season that lasts longer than you anticipated, you’re not alone.

Waiting can lead to disappointment and frustration. In those moments, we can become so focused on our circumstances that we forget God is still in control. If God’s in control, we might ask, then where is He? Why hasn’t anything changed?

HERE ARE THREE TRUTHS TO REMEMBER:

  • WAITING REVEALS WHAT YOU WORSHIP

When the Israelites’ plans were delayed, they pursued instant gratification because that’s what they actually valued.

When you find yourself dissatisfied with your situation, what do you turn to? What you focus on reveals what you value, and what you value determines what you worship.

  • WAITING IS NEVER WASTED

God wasn’t withholding His promise from the Israelites—He was preparing them for it.

God’s timeline is different than ours, but your waiting might actually be preparing you for the plans and purposes God has for you.

  • WAITING HELPS US FOCUS ON GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

God’s faithfulness hasn’t changed. The God who patiently protected and provided for the Israelites also conquered death so that you could experience eternal life.

If you find yourself growing weary from waiting, look up and look back. Look for evidence of God’s presence, and look back on what He’s done for you. This will help you hold onto hope.

Hoping in God is never wasted because the One who conquered death is still in control, and He’s always at work in your waiting.

GOD IS WORKING ALL THINGS FOR OUR GOOD

Because God is working all things within himself through his plan for our good eternally, even the worst of times become even the best of times. Pain is precious and peril is priceless, when the hope is in God’s eternal redemption for us. Looking back over my 68 years, those things which were most painful for me are also those things which God has used to bring me to this station in my service to him. How could I even fathom of changing one of them and risking not arriving at this moment in history?

[bctt tweet=”Pain is precious and peril is priceless, when the hope is in God’s eternal redemption for us. – Chip Hinds”

ROMANS 8:25-28, NIV

    1. But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
    2. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
    3. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
    4. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I know you are thinking it, so we will just end this blog with one of the most famous “waiting” texts in the Bible.

ISAIAH 40:26-31, NIV

    1. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
    2. Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
    3. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
    4. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
    5. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
    6. but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

(Used with permission from the Southwest District Superintendent’s Blog)