Puzzle Pieces
Of all the new and exciting things that college brings, one of my favorite parts is the freedom to arrange my own schedule each semster. When I sat down at my desk today, the excitement of selecting new classes and arranging my schedule filled me with a sense of adventure. The timing and planning of my schedule this upcoming spring semster was all under my control! But my enthusiasm and optimism quickly faded into frustration as I realized that the process is less like an adventure and more like solving an intricate jigsaw puzzle. I knew what classes I needed to take, but getting them into my week without overlap and conflict was a different story.
Since my Anatomy class was important, I started with that. But because the lab took up such a large block of time, that only left one section of Human Situation. And if I enrolled in that class, then I would have to take an 8:00 Bible class every day. Then, there would be no time for me to take Cell Biology because it was only offered at 8:00. At the dead end of the road, I'd start over. This time I'd start with a differend class, attempting to make ends meet. Almost forty-five minutes later, after several sheets of crumbled paper, I finally found a way to get all the classes I needed lined up in my schedule. I'm pretty sure that there was only one way to do it, and it took me forty-five minutes to figure it out. Looking at my schedule now, it is anything but perfect. I have an 8:00 class every day (no sleeping in next semester!), and I don't get lunch until 2:00 on Monday and Wednesday.
That's usually what happens when I put myself in a position of control over my life. I think I've got it made, that it will be a piece of cake for me to control my future plans. But the more I try to make things work on my own, the more they just don't line up. Soon, conflicts and overlaps and frustrations arise. When it's all said and done, I'm left with my lousy accomplishment of developing a faulty schedule where I have to get up extra early and miss lunch.
After I finished selecting my classes, I stopped to take a deep breath. First, I thanked God for helping all my classes to fit together. But then, I realized that there was a bigger lesson right in front of my eyes. As I looked at my little schedule scratched in my sloppy handwriting, I was reminded of the plan that God has pieced together for my life. I praised God that I don't have to piece my "life plan" together; He already has! Instead of my trying to make things work in my life according to my timing, my planning, or my purposes, I have the hope of laying it all at His feet and allowing Him to be the author of my schedule and my story. When I try to control the circumstances in my life, I get frustrated and end up with a stressful, incomplete, and crumpled-up sheet of paper. But when I trust the Lord to carry out the plans that He has already made for my entire life, then He pieces together every detail of my existence and hands it to me as a beautiful gift to be used for Him.
Isn't it great that our life schedules are not in our own hands, but in the hands of our Almighty each person that fits together faultlessly. Let's trust Him with our everyday schedules and entire lives, resting assured that His plan is formed in love and carried out in faithfulness, which is so much better than any plan we could ever write on our own!
Since my Anatomy class was important, I started with that. But because the lab took up such a large block of time, that only left one section of Human Situation. And if I enrolled in that class, then I would have to take an 8:00 Bible class every day. Then, there would be no time for me to take Cell Biology because it was only offered at 8:00. At the dead end of the road, I'd start over. This time I'd start with a differend class, attempting to make ends meet. Almost forty-five minutes later, after several sheets of crumbled paper, I finally found a way to get all the classes I needed lined up in my schedule. I'm pretty sure that there was only one way to do it, and it took me forty-five minutes to figure it out. Looking at my schedule now, it is anything but perfect. I have an 8:00 class every day (no sleeping in next semester!), and I don't get lunch until 2:00 on Monday and Wednesday.
That's usually what happens when I put myself in a position of control over my life. I think I've got it made, that it will be a piece of cake for me to control my future plans. But the more I try to make things work on my own, the more they just don't line up. Soon, conflicts and overlaps and frustrations arise. When it's all said and done, I'm left with my lousy accomplishment of developing a faulty schedule where I have to get up extra early and miss lunch.
After I finished selecting my classes, I stopped to take a deep breath. First, I thanked God for helping all my classes to fit together. But then, I realized that there was a bigger lesson right in front of my eyes. As I looked at my little schedule scratched in my sloppy handwriting, I was reminded of the plan that God has pieced together for my life. I praised God that I don't have to piece my "life plan" together; He already has! Instead of my trying to make things work in my life according to my timing, my planning, or my purposes, I have the hope of laying it all at His feet and allowing Him to be the author of my schedule and my story. When I try to control the circumstances in my life, I get frustrated and end up with a stressful, incomplete, and crumpled-up sheet of paper. But when I trust the Lord to carry out the plans that He has already made for my entire life, then He pieces together every detail of my existence and hands it to me as a beautiful gift to be used for Him.
Isn't it great that our life schedules are not in our own hands, but in the hands of our Almighty each person that fits together faultlessly. Let's trust Him with our everyday schedules and entire lives, resting assured that His plan is formed in love and carried out in faithfulness, which is so much better than any plan we could ever write on our own!
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