From The Editor: God is in the Details
I tend to be a planner. I’m not a super in-depth detailed person by nature, but I’ve cultivated a logistical mind through my various vocational experiences. I like lists and having all the information in one place easily within reach. Inevitably someone will ask me for details, and deep down I secretly pride myself on having the answers.
A friend who works in the technology field recently asked me why I needed a physical calendar planner. Why not just use one of the many available and proven purpose-built computer applications to order my life? I explained that I find it much more satisfying to tear out a page (or fold up a sticky note, my personal favorite!) and toss it in the bin than it is to delete a to-do item on my laptop. Plus, if the battery runs out or the technology fails, I still have access to all the information that my brain was just too full to contain while writing down the details.
As a relatively organized person, I like to know what lies ahead, and that applies to my life as well. As we all do at some point, I learned a long time ago the hard truth that things would not always go according to my plans, and I’ve grown and adapted to be okay with that. But every now and again my life becomes so unraveled, so last-minute, and so far from any sort of order that my brain just fizzles, and my soul feels stretched to its limit.
Just in the past couple of years my projected personal timeline has been upset and rewritten dozens of times. I know God has a plan. I know He’s already taken care of the details. But in those moments of turbulence, it is still a struggle to surrender my control and let go of what I thought the plan was or what I believed it should have been.
But that is exactly what we are called to do. Matthew 6:34a says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (NIV). Don’t worry; God’s got it. He’s got us. And He is much better at planning and logistics than we could ever fathom.
Looking back, without fail, I can see where God’s version is so much richer, so much better, and so much more beautiful than whatever plan I had in mind. And whenever I reach a topsy-turvy moment, the sooner I recall His unlimited faithfulness and surrender to His flow, the sooner I can start to see the beauty at work in His details. Perhaps flexibility should be considered an official spiritual gift!
God will handle all the details. We just have to rest and rely on Him to take care of things His way and in His time.