plans – Deidra Deandra

Okay With Today

Okay With Today Everybody’s ready for the next phase in their life, the next step, the next season. No one’s as excited about yesterday as they are about tomorrow. We have lunch plans with a co-worker or a dinner date with our spouse. We plan the mess out of our lives and we forget that our time… isn’t ours.

This time we spend on Earth is borrowed time. It isn’t ours and it was never intended to be ours. We are called to make disciples, further the gospel, bring His will from Heaven to Earth, love the sinner and hate the sin, help the widows and care for the orphans, be fishers of men. All of these tasks are a TODAY event. We have today. We have to use it to HIS benefit. Not to make another dollar or up our weights in the gym. While these things are enjoyable and clearly necessary to live a long and healthy life, we can’t let them steal our focus from what we’re really here for… His divine purpose.

He loves us. He knows the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen we need in our air to be able to breathe it. He knows the car we want, the job we would rather have and the number of days we’ll be here to experience all these things. All He asks is to make our days count. While sitting on your couch eating potato chips and surfing the channels isn’t the worst thing you could be doing with your very small amount of time, it isn’t the best thing either.

Get up. Move. Wave to someone. Smile in the direction of…everyone. Show the world around you that there’s more and they can have it. Show a little love today with your time. Make the world a brighter place because YOU are in it. Be okay with being alive today and make the most of it. Show Him to the world and watch Him do the rest.

Word Over Work

WORK WORK WORK

I woke up early this morning, prayed, rolled over 1 or 2 times, then took a shower. I got dressed and plopped behind my little makeshift desk in my room, ready to get to work. Then my notifications went off reminding me of my various morning devotions. So I let go of the mouse and started to read. I felt immediate guilt.

SNIPPET // Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, August 29:
DEMONSTRATE your trust in Me by sitting quietly in My Presence. PUT ASIDE all that is waiting to be done, and refuse to worry about anything. This sacred TIME TOGETHER strengthens you and prepares you to face whatever the day will bring. The world is so complex and overstimulating that you can easily lose your sense of direction. When you spend time with Me, I restore your sense of direction. As you look to Me for guidance, I enable you to do less but accomplish more.

WAIT

Waiting Before Working – An Act of Faith
I’ve been doing and doing, “working after working” (you know what I mean?) to build Deidra Deandra. That little reminder in my devotion this morning was right on time. It’s not anything I don’t know; I just got caught up in my own strength. I’ve been slacking in my time with Him and had to give myself a check this morning. All the wisdom I need for not only my business, but my life, to write blogs that are real (and not just “another blog”) come from Him and to keep it that way I need to spend more time in His word. Waiting before working and putting Him first in your day is a crucial step to a successful day.

I wrote a piece on plans yesterday filled with Proverbs and today I end with another one, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed (Proverbs 16:3).” My message to you: Stop relying on your own wisdom and strength to get things done. FIRST, Commit WHATEVER you do to Him.

We Can Make Our Plans BUT..

We can make our plans..
BUT The Lord gives the RIGHT answer. (Proverbs 16:1)
BUT The Lord determines our STEPS. (Proverbs 16:9)
BUT The Lord’s purpose WILL prevail. (Proverbs 19:20)

I don’t know what He’s doing but I’m about doing what He’s doing. Over the past year I’ve realized that there’s really only so much planning we need to be doing. The first time that reality hit me (Ms. Planner) was like seeing a pig fly before my eyes; it was a LOT to take in. Today however, I have found that He’s really good at it. Go figure! 😉

I don’t need to know every detail (melancholy). I don’t need to make all the plans. “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? (Proverbs 20:24)” I thank Him for bringing me to a place where I find calmness in that scripture when years ago, it would have caused worry not being able to understand what’s next. It’s not easy hearing God say quit your job and GO. Say what? But I did and… I have to save that for another blog. 😀

Tonight as He pushes my plans aside, once again, I recite one of my favorite scriptures: “The Lord says, ‘I WILL GUIDE YOU along the BEST PATHWAY for your life. I will advise you and watch over you (Psalms 32:8).'”

Whatever God is doing in your life today, let Him do it! He wants GREAT for you, so want it bad enough to entrust your life, plans, agenda.. your everything to Him! Leaving my “dream job” was one of the best things He had me do. You never know what He has in store for you. Don’t be the WHAT IF person; give Him the reigns!