If You Think You Have It All Figured Out...You Don't

Those words were said by my pastor during the sermon today. Of all the words said in my pastor's sermon today, these stuck with me more than anything else.

Today was my pastor's last day in our church. After 4 1/2 years of service at our church, he has answered a call to be the Director of Theology and Worship for the Presbyterian USA Headquarters. That is quite a title and it is sure to be a fantastic adventure for him.  As I am sad that such a great, helpful, faithful, prayful, youthful, excited, believing, man is leaving our church, I am very excited to see what he can do for the denomination and for the body of Christian believers in our country.

He these words when he was talking about answering his new call. He talked about how he thought his life's purpose was to be the pastor at Second Presbyterian Church in the downtown area of this city in Illinois. But, like always, God has other, better plans for us. As much as we try to resist these calls (if we do) God always wins. His plans for us are much better than whatever life we are currently living.

If you think you have it all figured out...you don't.

If you think you finally have your budget sorted out for the new year, God will put it on your heart to sponsor another child, or he'll lead you to change careers, or he'll raise your rent.

If you think your family is perfect the way it is, God will bless you with a pregnancy, or he will take a loved one back to heaven, or he will put it on your heart to adopt.

If you think you are exactly where you should be in life, God will call you to do something else, to move away from your church family, away from everything that is comfortable, and give you a new purpose in life.

Everything that God does is for a greater purpose. A purpose that will further his kingdom. A purpose that only you can do.

While I am a little nervous about the new life my church is entering into, the challenge of being pastorless while many committees work on praying, reading resumes, interviewing, and trusting God in order to find a new pastor, this process is estimated to take more than six months, I am excited to see what God has in store.

You don't have it all figured out. You won't ever have it all figured out. And until we get to spend eternity in heaven, we will have to be satisfied with not knowing everything. Even when it's hard.