[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 02/Oct/2022]
As I write this reflection I’m having to rearrange my diary because of train strikes in London. Frustratingly, one of the days they have chosen to strike is the one on which I was heading into London for a special event, followed by a meeting with old friends. How inconvenient! How annoying!
Do you ever feel like that? Disappointed and irritated because things haven’t gone to plan? Are you put out by the inconvenience of decisions and events out of your control?
Both Jesus and James shared the stories of people that planned out their lives, only to have the unexpected come and ruin it all! In Jesus’ example it was a rich man storing up his wealth for his own selfish desires only to die before spending that wealth. For James it was guys who boasted about their great plans to go there and do this, when they had no idea what will happen tomorrow, let alone next year!
But maybe you’re like me. So many times I don’t do what I’m supposed to do, maybe even called to do, because it’s inconvenient, or it doesn’t fit with my plans. Perhaps I say “no” to doing something – not because it’s not within my talents or time but because I’d rather do something else less important, but set in stone because it’s in my diary, or it’s one of my normal routines of life.
Is it possible that we are missing out on the abundant life that Jesus is offering us, because we have settled for plans of our own making – plans that in reality we have no control over, and will perhaps be thwarted despite our best efforts?
Perhaps it would be better to put my diary (my plans, ambition, and time) in God’s hands, rather than risk leaving it in my own.
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Contributed by Martin Shorey; © the Author
