Written on Paper

Read Genesis 12:1-4

Calendars are an interesting thing. We plan, schedule and cajole our time so that we are able to meet the demands of our responsibility. I hate to be late for anything. I was raised that if you are supposed to be somewhere at a certain time, that meant you were at least five minutes early. I still live by that principle (much to my wife’s chagrin). However, invariably something goes wrong. Some time ago, we were scheduled to fly out of Kansas City at 6 a.m., which meant that we needed to be at the airport by 5 a.m. However, my alarm clock went off at 4:15 instead of 3:15. Our airport was forty minutes from my home. Needless to say, we barely made it. You see, life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. Our lives are subject to detours and corrections that we never expected or imagined.
Abraham and Sarah could testify to that. They were planning for retirement when life "happened" to them. God adjusted their agenda. He told Abraham, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1). So this old couple packed up the tent and headed out to only God knew where. When Alexander the Great had completed his conquest of Persia, he headed east. Author Halford Luccock said the general "marched off his maps." That happened to Sarah and Abraham. God gave them marching orders without a map. They needed only enough faith to begin the journey, and they headed out to unknown territories and unimagined adventures. God never told them He would turn them "every which way but loose" before fulfilling His promise of a son who would become a great nation.
The lesson in all of this is very simple. Make your plans, but write them on paper, not in concrete. Use a pencil instead of a pen. God and life have a way of intruding and leading you on a journey that you might not have anticipated in your wildest dreams. Solomon said it just perfect, “A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me".”
- Erma Bombeck