Lessons from the Heart
The best laid plans...
By Pastor Chuck Compton

Chuck Compton is pastor at the Flora Presbyterian Church.

I was shocked! It was Saturday evening and, instead of finalizing my thoughts for the Sunday morning worship service, here I was lying in a hospital bed talking to a surgeon about what he was going to do to remove my ruptured appendix. That wasn't what I had planned for this evening! Over the month following I found out that a lot of things were going to happen that I had not planned.

My recent devotions had focused on how God's plan for our lives is perfect and for our blessing. In the days following surgery I struggled to understand how God's timing and purpose were perfect as I went from one complication to another. I know that it is supposed to be "fun" to take a long vacation, even in the hospital, but I wasn't finding a lot of humor in the month that followed.

As I struggled to understand what was happening, I remembered that many of the people who experienced Christ's birth, the fulfillment of God's perfect plan for all of us, were confused and were not able to understand how this event was Good News. I think especially of all the mothers and fathers who lost their baby sons at the hands of Herod's troops. Maybe the truth of an event can only be evaluated when we have the distance and time needed for perspective.

I realized anew that some things can only be handled by faith. I could not prove in those days in the hospital that God's plan for my life was perfect and for my blessing. It certainly didn't feel like what was happening was a blessing. Because I have learned in many years of trusting God that He is faithful to His promises, I was able to accept what was happening as God's perfect plan for my life most of the time. Sometimes in the pain and very high fevers I struggled.

I have already started to see a few elements of how God worked everything not only for my blessing, but also for some wonderful people around me. I am no longer shocked. I am amazed to see how God worked through so many people in so many beautiful ways to nurture His worship and to reach out in ministry through the people at Flora Presbyterian Church.