But it didn’t go according to plan…

It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. Joshua 24:17

We need to learn to want what we have, not to have what we want Epicurus

As an avid hiker, I often set out on a trail with a certain set of expectations.  Things like trail length, difficulty, and how much time I think will be involved in the adventure.  Often, I’m surprised when circumstances are quite different than my expectations, yet, no matter what happens along the way, I always see that the hand of God was upon me, guiding and protecting me while simultaneously giving me joy in the journey, even through the challenges. 

Such musings make me wonder about the Israelites who set out from Egypt, no doubt expecting a short journey to the Promised Land.  Yet they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Joshua was one of only two people who began the journey in Egypt and lived to see the Promised Land; I am quite sure that he expected the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land to be shorter and different. God had other plans for the trek through the wilderness.  Miracles occurred, moral failure happened among the Israelites, babies were born, people died; life was filled with the unknown, still, God worked through it all.

Over ten years ago, God began my journey with daily Scripture and Picture posts on Facebook.  Originally, my thought was just to put advent scripture verses with photos that would express the joy and true meaning of Christmas.  After a month of doing so, the unexpected and overwhelming response from Facebook friends made it clear that God was using His word and the beauty of His Creation to touch people’s hearts and lives.  So, I listened and obeyed, thinking that God would just have me post for a year or so.  Clearly, God had much bigger plans than I expected as the following only continued to grow as He blessed people through His ministry of Scripture and Picture.

When your expectations are different than reality? How do you handle unforeseen changes in the plan?  Can you let go of your expectations and trust God?