And it reminded me of a solid truth.
I can make all the plans I want.
But, in the end.
God may have something else in mind.
 |
| Maria in Segera, Kenya 2015 |
A new friend.
Maria.
Shared this story a few weeks ago.
At a training for mission team leaders with 410 Bridge.
Maria was serving on a medical team in an area I've been many times.
The rural bush area of Segera, Kenya.
You can drive for miles in the bush.
And see nothing but the flat terrain.
Occasional herds of camel.
Goats.
Lots of acacia trees.
Beautiful.
Open land.
Exactly what you would imagine Africa to be.
Maria's team was running behind schedule that day.
They got a late start.
People in the community would be waiting.
Medical clinics in this areas only come occasionally.
This team traveled over 10,000 miles to serve them.
Time was ticking.
And all the "Type A" personalities on the bus that morning.
Were anxious to get to work.
But God had other plans.
Mud.
Thick.
Quick sand - like mud.
Their bus became hopelessly.
And utterly.
Stuck.
 |
| The medical team's bus mired in the mud 2015. |
Everybody got off.
But, the bus wouldn't budge.
They tried to push.
They tried to help the bus gain traction.
Nothing worked.
Stranded.
Frustrated.
Confused by the turn of events.
Going nowhere.
As I listened to Maria describe what happened next.
I remembered something I read recently.
About plans being thwarted.
My first response is never good.
When that happens to me.
I get aggravated.
Impatient.
Testy.
"...on days when things go smoothly
according
to your plans,
you may be unaware
of My sovereign Presence.
..On days when your plans are thwarted,
be on the lookout for Me..."
That day.
On Maria's mission trip.
Her medical team's plans were hijacked.
As they stood on the side of the muddy road.
Not where they planned to be.
Impatient to continue on their way.
Two Kenyan women came walking toward them.
Carrying sick children.
Two babies and a toddler.
In the middle of the nowhere.
Far from town.
Far from the clinic.
Far from where they planned to be.
And there.
On the flat and rural plains of Segera.
Stood a medical team of Americans.
Stuck in the mud.
Exactly.
Where God intended for them to be.
"...I may be doing something important
in your life.
Something quite different from what you expected."
The mamas approached Maria and her team.
They couldn't have been missed.
The team had the supplies and medicines the sick children needed.
They weren't stored away at the clinic site.
Nope.
That morning.......they were on the bus.
Nebulizer treatments for the children's breathing problems.
Antibiotic injections.
And wound care to stitch up an open cut.
"....don't try to figure out what is happening.
Simply trust Me
and thank Me in advance
for any good that will come out of it all...."
The team sat in a field with the women and their sick children.
Providing their treatment and care.
Praying over them.
And showering them with encouragement and love.
"....I know the plans I have for you,
and they are good..." *
And the bus?
Just as the women and children were on their way.
Another bus came along.
And pulled them out.
Of course.
When I heard this story.
I was reminded.
When my plans are sidetracked.
Or disrupted.
I want to stop whining about the inconvenience.
Long enough.
To look around me.
And recognize.
That God may be up to something in my life.
Even when all I might see.
Is the mud.
* excerpts from Sarah Young "Jesus Calling."
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