Coauthoring with God

I wouldn’t say I’m a control freak; but I do like to know where I’m going and how I am getting there. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either. It’s great to have a goal and game plan! As the saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” You probably do the same thing, right?

You may love carrying around your day planner or checking items off that seemingly endless checklist. But do you have a life planner? It’s probably an unwritten story of how your life is supposed to go. You may have it rather detailed down to the house number and street you plan on living at when you retire, or the when and how you will meet that special someone that you have pictured perfectly ever since you realized that boys and girls do NOT have cooties.

We all have these desires (hopefully less detailed!) in us. We think we have the greatest happily-ever-after story lined up for our lives. But how quickly things diverge from our plan. We try to orchestrate it back in to place, but it just doesn’t seem to fit into place. We realize, we are out of control.

"But God": the most powerful words ever used. But God is in control. In fact, He is better than just “in control”. God is a loving, good God that has remarkably beautiful plans for His children who let Him lead. But that’s where the problem lies, isn’t it? We don’t let Him. We are so busy whispering in his ear or maybe even shouting in His face how our life is meant to be. We take the pen from His caring hand and begin to “make a few adjustments” to the story line. We live in fear that our Father either does not have TOTAL control or that He is not good. We buy into Satan’s lies.

We wind up settling for an average life instead of the joyous masterpiece He wants for us. There are several verses I remind myself of when I begin to become the author of my own story. One is Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Sometimes, however, we get this verse turned around, we delight in the blessings God gives us instead of purely delighting in our Father and Friend. Another verse is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you and expected end.” God has special plans just for you and if you let Him have His way, it will exceed all expectations.

“Take your hand off the pen,” He says, “I have the perfect story for you.”

LC (College Freshman)