Some things just don't make any sense...right now.

     I'm sure I'm not the only person to be perplexed when something unexpected takes place in or around my life or the lives of those close to me.  The disciples probably felt this way when for 3 years Judas has been living, breathing, eating and listening to Jesus just as they had.  Then Judas betrayed Jesus leading to his death.  It wouldn't be until later that this made sense to them.  Part of the equation for them and for me is the "expectations" that everything will run smoothly and according to plan.  Well, I doesn't always happen that way.  We experience that event outside of our expectations and there we are wondering what happened and why.  Besides expectations a second element that comes into play is "timing".  It's tied to expectations because we like things to take place or not take place on our schedule.  There are many instances in the Bible where we hear the writer say, "in just the right time, God..."  Wait!  You mean God has all the expectations and timing in his plan all along and he didn't tell me?  I guess if I had known I might have tried to change Gods mind.  That or just do my own thing anyway.  By the way, that never works out.
     King David was fleeing from King Saul with his men.  They had made their way into a canyon and were trapped.  David's men were anxious as you or I would be.  Saul certainly was going to finish the job and kill David and his men.  But...God and David had another plan.  Saul received word from a messenger that he was needed at the south end of the kingdom as the Egyptians were invading the land.  David and his men were saved because it was in God's plan that David be king.  There are some facts we need to consider in this story.  First, David prayed and wrote the 23rd Psalm while in that cave in the canyon.  Second, David was fleeing because he didn't want to kill King Saul.  Third, and most important, there were circumstances being arranged long before this moment.  Imagine if you will the journey the messenger would have had to take.  The distance from the south end of the kingdom to the north end of the kingdom would have taken at least a couple of weeks.  David hadn't even begun to enter the canyon when the word of the invasion by the Egyptians began its trek to Saul.  Did you catch that?  The "plan" God had been working with was behind the scenes and was being put into place long before the crisis.  Some things just don't make sense...right now.
     When I look over my life there are a mixture of events which have proved the theory that God was and is working on his plan for me long before the event takes place.  That well placed teacher/librarian Ms. Thompson who gave me the gift of a love of reading.  The classmate who put the Sunday school papers in my desk for several weeks on Monday morning.  The girl who stopped me to invite me to a coffee house in Germany where I would learn about Christ.  The list goes on and on.  Friends and enemies have both played parts in God working his will in and through me on his timing and in his plan.  Yet, many times I didn't see the connection until months, years or even decades later.  Why God does this is not a mystery.  The Bible says he has a plan for me that he put in place before I was conceived in my mothers womb.  Yes, he knows me, knows where I have come from, knows what I have come through and knows where I am going.  It's a plan that proves that some things just don't make any senses...right now.
     I've been privy to being an instrument in the lives of others as well.  Sometimes anonymous and sometimes not.  Sometimes I have been aware of God using me and other times I am surprised to learn that I made a difference in a persons life.  Before I get a big head I need to tell you that I have also thwarted the plan God had for me and for others due to my own selfishness and sin.  Yet, God still worked and works even today.  Amazing!  He gives grace to the graceless and hope to the hopeless AND sometimes through me!  Wow!  The Bible tells us that we may find ourselves "entertaining angels unaware."  The heavenly realm is always active watching out for those who believe and working in the lives of those who don't believe.  You and I are instruments only so far as we let God's plan live and work through our lives.  We may not see the results now.  We're not supposed to.  We are supposed to keep our eye on the plan and nothing else.  When and how the plan comes to fruition is up to the Holy Spirit, not me.  When you go through your day; remember that some things just don' make any sense...right now.