It starts with an idea, a dream, even a call.
You put in the hours necessarily – school, seminary, life e.t.c
But a few miles down the road, boom! your plans go up in smoke.
You are wrecked – convinced about a new journey, a different plan.
It’s not easy but you are willing to begin again. To go back and start afresh.
But a little detail still eludes you.
You don’t understand that He doesn‘t wreck once.
He does it everyday.
Your new life will be broken in all possible (and impossible) places.
A little wrecked story
From the time I was little and right into my teen years, I wanted to be a nun.
In my mid-teens, I realized I was too willful for convent-life.
Still in my teens, I met Jesus and He changed my heart.
I knew I’d become a preacher.
I did some right through adulthood – through small groups, discipleship and mentoring. But in my heart, I desired strongly to do it full time – tell people about Jesus and meet their practical needs as He did.
I had plans
But so did God.
His plans
Often we have good ideas. Good ideas which He wrecks.
He opens our eyes, invites us to go deeper. He gives us a glimpse of what He sees and asks us to dream with Him.
That has been the story of my life. As am sure yours. Good plans going up in flames. Replaced by better plans which keep going up in flames.
I believe that our good ideas aren’t necessarily bad ideas, they are just steps for the next idea…the God idea.
But the God idea is always growing, never stationary, comfortable, sedentary, controlled.
Encounter versus process
God is into process.
It’s one thing to have a big encounter. Quite another to ‘stay encountered’. It’s one thing to ‘give up a dream’, quite another to stay ‘given up’.
God likes using broken people.
Good ideas..even the wrecked ones must be given up. Constantly.
He is never done.
Interested in living a wrecked life?
1. Learn to allow the process of time.
Dreams don’t come to pass in a day. Hold your dreams with an open hand.
Allow Him to dictate your path.
2. Don’t compare your journey to another person’s journey.
Yesterday I was down in the dumps after reading Katie Davis story.
I kept asking myself What on earth am I doing?
But I am not Katie Davies.
I am me. I have a unique path, a difference to make, a story to live – a signature story, right from heaven.
But I will miss it if I try to live forward looking sideways.
3. Allow the daily, subtle wrecking to continue in your heart.
This is the level of faith and depth.
4. Continually give up your plans to God.
Embrace the fact that His plans won’t (always) make your life easier or more comfortable.
5. Accept that Faith is the currency that sustains you in your waiting, in your transition, in your dreams
Question – Have you ever had to give up a good plan for a better plan? What did you learn?
* This post was inspired by Jeff Goins new book, Wrecked - (Please note – I have not read the book yet, just the reviews)- and Jeremy Statton’s post Be that Somebody Part 1- Hearing the Stories
Image by – Angela Highfield
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