Everyone has a plan, right? A way you expect life to go or a particular set ofsteps you’ll take to manifest your vision or goals. We all do this, don’t we? We wrap ourselves up in planning the next steps needed to cross the finish line, but we don’t take the necessary time to plan for any contingencies. Those little storms may throw us off course, or worse, the big ones may sink us entirely!
When ships head out to sea, their course is charted with the weather patterns in mind. Radar is utilized to navigate around storms or other ships that interrupt the course, but they have contingency plans for situations that pop up or are otherwise unavoidable. If possible, a ship will head for a safe harbor and drop anchor to let the storm pass by and then continue on to reach its destination. If a storm is small enough, the captain may be able to navigate around the storm and miss it entirely. Sometimes though, the storm is enormous and can’t be avoided. The job of the captain is to use the tools and personnel available to him to search for the part of the storm that they can navigate through. The waves may be giant, the wind may blow, and the rains may pour, but the ship must keep pressing forward. Contingency plans are known and rehearsed by theentire crew so that when the captain makes the call, everyone knows what steps to take to accomplish the goal.
What are your contingency plans? Sunday morning, Pastor Tom talked about what we do when crises come up, and he touched on the starting point ofcontingency plans. We’ll need two plans, one for the little storms and one for the big ones. Fortunately, they both start at the same point - Faith. Paul talked about knowing who God is and knowing who he is in relationship to God. Paul recognized that God is with him regardless of his present circumstance. Remember Anchor #2? “He may not rescue us, but He will be with us.”
Imagine being in the midst of a storm that is too much for you to handle - maybe you don’t have to try too hard to imagine it because you are in crisisright now. That anchor may not be too comforting because we’d rather God outright rescue us. Mark Batterson writes, “God is building your resume. He always uses past experiences to prepare us for future opportunities. Those God-given opportunities often come disguised as man-eating lions (or a perfect storm).”
I never thought that God would use my life’s story for good when I was crawling through my own perfect storm, but He did. Keeping my eyes fixed on Him even as I walked through the lowest valleys made all the difference. “God, I don’t know how you’ll use this experience for your glory, but help me see it someday.” That was my prayer. My first step was faith.
My contingency plan centered around Him and not dodging the pain life was dealing my family and me. I took refuge in the words of Max Lucado: “You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime, don’t be foolish or naive. But don’t despair, either. With God’s help, you will get through this.” When faced with a storm, no matter the size, may you lean into the One who sees you, knows you, and loves you.
