Long Term Plans

There was a star blinking at me when I logged in this morning informing me that I had lost 5 pounds! Sounds great doesn't it?  Now this would have been amazing if it had been a week, great if it had been two, acceptable if it had been three but was downright dismal when it’s the result of four weeks – four weeks of only serving others ice cream, not taking the extra slice of pizza and turning down countless icy cold beverages on hot summer days. This was my big result? whoo hoo…

I really hate long term plans!!

Now granted, if I keep losing weight at this rate I will be in the vicinity of what it says on my driver’s license in a couple years; that’s something right? Right?!

Perhaps it’s me, or because I’m a product of the culture but I want it now. Via coffee, instant oatmeal, patience and maturity in a hurry – and put a rush on that!

And although I may not like it the lack of speed, there is great security and peace knowing that God has a long term plan in place for my life.

Nothing that happens in my life is random or senseless.

I may not understand how this fits but God knows how it’s part of the plan.

I was thinking about Job, who is historically known, as the epitome of a man with problems. But look at the concluding verse of the book of Job. “Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, good life.” (Job 42:16)

I wonder what Job’s perspective was on his troubles a year after they’d ended, and after ten years, and fifty and a hundred… How did he feel about the problems that, when in the midst of them he lamented “Why didn’t I die at birth as I came from the womb? Why did my mother let me live?... for if I had died at birth, I would be at peace now, asleep and at rest.” (Job 3:11)

God has a long term plan in place, if we recognize what He is doing or not. There was a plan for Job, He has one for me, and He also does for you. The progress may be slow or seemingly stagnant but rest assured “He knows the way that I take and when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10 even if it’s just one baby step at a time.