My daughter is taking an online computer class that sometimes proves confusing and difficult. I often team up with her to work through difficult assignments. This Thanksgiving, she was planning to complete the last two assignments in preparation for taking the final exam. We were wrestling with the first one on Thanksgiving day.I watched the hours go by, knowing that I had a trip planned for Friday, the next day. We struggled through the afternoon, trying to finish the first lesson. Late that night, we finally finished it, exhausted. Seeing her frustration during the afternoon, I had already decided to cancel my trip. I finally shared my change in plans with her. She sagged against me in relief, comforted that she wouldn’t suffer through the final assignment alone.
Dads are supposed to do things like that. When we are observant and alert enough to notice needs around us, even projecting future ones, it is our duty and privilege to meet that need! Even as a faulty and human dad, I knew what my daughter’s next day might be like, struggling alone with the last assignment.
Our Heavenly Father is not surprised by what happens in our lives. David says,
“your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16
A friend at work is struggling with a puzzling and frustrating health condition that is exhausting her. Neither she, nor the physician may know the diagnosis or the treatment yet, but God does. Will it be an instant dramatic cure from finding the right miracle drug? Or will it be a process that takes longer than anyone expects? Will God show his power over disease? Or will He show his power over discouragement, anger, and pain by flooding her life with faith and peace and joy?
God knows every day of your life and has plans laid out for each one of them. He has had these plans since before you were born! As I say to my daughters, “before you were a twinkle in my eye!” Some plans just to make us happy, some to help us trust Him more, some to grow us to look more like His Son. What has He planned for you today?
shared in the workplace 12/10/09