New Morning Mercies #203

You simply can’t debate it—God’s way is better than your way. His plan is infinitely better than any plan you would have for yourself.

I was so discouraged. I was through. I had planned my exit and was pretty certain about where I would land next. The plan looked good to me, much better than what I had been going through. I was going to exit the nightmare and go live the dream. The problem was that God had a much, much better plan for me. I thought I knew better. I thought I knew exactly what was coming next. I had written the next chapter of my story. But I had forgotten that someone else was the author.

I had been chasing my ministry dream, but I didn’t know it. Nothing had worked out according to my little self-oriented plan. I wasn’t appreciated in the way that I thought I deserved to be appreciated, and there was much more trouble in our little church than I had ever thought I would encounter. The dream had become a nightmare, so I thought the wisest thing to do was to get out quickly and make a fresh start. But God had another plan.

At the end of the service where I announced my resignation, the oldest man in our congregation waited on the porch of the church for me. We were the last two to leave. He came up to me and asked if he could speak to me, then said: “We know you’re discouraged and we know you’re a bit immature, but we haven’t asked you to leave. Where is the church going to get mature pastors if the immature ones leave?” God had interrupted my plan. I knew immediately that he was right. I knew immediately I was running because my dream had blown up in my face. And I knew right there, right then that I could not leave. I went home and told my wife that we couldn’t leave and I called my elders and asked to rescind my resignation.

I stayed for many more years—years of growth in both grace and ministry. Nothing I have experienced since would have happened if I had left. All the blessings and trials of ministry that have enabled me to do what I now do would have been missed. I was going to jump ship and leave pastoral ministry. But thankfully I am not the author of my own personal story.

Your story isn’t an autobiography either. Your story is a biography of wisdom and grace written by another. Every turn he writes into your story is right. Every twist of the plot is for the best. Every new character or unexpected event is a tool of his grace. Each new chapter advances his purpose. “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right” (Hos. 14:9). It is almost a gross understatement to say that God’s ways are better. How could they not be? He is infinite in wisdom and grace!

For further study and encouragement: Psalm 118