Holding Our Plans with Open Hands
Holding Our Plans with Open Hands
Have you ever been in a situation where you knew exactly what you were going to do next, then someone came along and asked you to change your plans?
I have a type-A personality. I thrive with lists and planners and carefully thought-out routines. Unforeseen circumstances and sudden departures from a plan are my kryptonite. Some of you can probably relate.
There’s a story in the New Testament about a widowed woman who was one of many suffering from a severe famine in the land. The woman was running out of food fast, and she’d already come up with a plan for what to do next. But then someone came along and asked her to change her plans at the last minute…
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.” So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.” As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”
But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”
Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.’”
So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days. The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through Elijah.
By the time Elijah encountered the woman, the famine had already been underway for quite a while.
We know that this woman was a widow; and though we don’t know exactly how her husband died, it’s entirely possible that he’d died from starvation. People would have been starving to death, left and right.
More than likely, there would’ve also been some who were prowling about, taking advantage of the vulnerable and the kindhearted. The Bible doesn’t tell us as much, but it wouldn’t surprise me that this woman had already been scammed out of a meal or two. Certainly, toward the end, she’d had to turn away desperate beggars — those who’d run out of bread before she had. And Elijah was a complete stranger, to this woman. She had no reason to trust him.
It may seem like it shouldn’t have mattered, since she was basically out of food anyway, but what Elijah was asking of this widow was a big ask.
The widow had already resigned herself to the fact that, short of a miracle, she and her son were about to die — despite her careful planning and rationing of the food. They had just enough left for one more meal, and Elijah was asking her to split their meal with him, promising that, if she did, she’d get her miracle.
It should’ve sounded too good to be true. It probably would have, had it not been for something else that we know from the text. See, Elijah wasn’t the only one to speak to the widow. God spoke to her, too. And God had told her to take care of Elijah.
It didn’t come down to whether or not the widow trusted Elijah; it came down to whether or not she trusted God.
The widow already had a plan — albeit a lousy, shortsighted plan. And she knew, with her limited resources, that she could carry it out to completion. It was a sure thing, or as close to a sure thing as anything ever is.
And isn’t that what many of us long for, if we’re being really honest? A “sure thing”? A predictable outcome? In a world filled with so many unknowns, some of us would rather plan for the worst than hope for the best, just so we can know what to expect.
The widow could’ve told Elijah, “No.”
Weary of the suffering she’d already endured, she could’ve begged God, “Just let us die,” instead.
But she would have missed out, because God had a better plan for the widow — a plan for her long-term good.
And though God’s plan wasn’t a sure thing, by any human estimation, the widow was willing to exchange her plan for His, knowing full-well that His plan was going to require more resources than she had, and it was going to be dependent on someone other than her.
And aren’t you so glad that the written account of her story didn’t just end there? We’re told that God kept His word. In faith, the widow baked bread for Elijah, then some for her and her son… and then God continued to provide more flour and oil, so that the jars and their bellies never ran empty, through the end of the famine.
The widow had planned out the foreseeable future for her son and herself, which was very short indeed. God, on the other hand, had planned a whole future for them, beyond anything they could’ve possibly imagined!
So what’s the point? How does the story of the faith-filled widow apply to you and me? Because I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t make plans.
I believe that God very intentionally created all kinds of people, including those of us who love to plan ahead. Planners were among the “very good” people that He created. Planners keep households and churches and companies and nations in forward motion. This world would be at a loss without us.
That being said, God is better at planning for our futures than we are, and sometimes, are best-laid plans don’t line up with God’s good plans for our lives — perhaps especially when we come up with those plans in moments of desperation, without having sought wisdom from God first.
So as we plan ahead, we need to take the posture of the widow in this story, holding our plans with open hands, ready to change our course in a moment, simply at hearing the voice of God.
When we find ourselves in a situation where we’re having to choose between our plans and whatever God’s asking us to do instead, or we’re trying to discern the difference between what seems best to us and what God really wants us to do, here are some truths from the story of the faith-filled widow that we can apply to our lives:
God’s plans for us always ultimately depend on His provision, not our resources.
God’s plans for us always require faith. (But also, God can always be trusted to keep His word.)
God’s plans for us are always going to be better than anything different that we can envision for ourselves.
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. - Proverbs 16:9, NIV
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
- Jesus (Matthew 6:25-33, NIV)
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