Moving With the Quake

.

Listen to the audio broadcast!
http://xrl.us/ep63

If we did a word association game with the words "San

Francisco," I'll bet these two things would come up very

quickly - Golden Gate Bridge, earthquakes. Actually,

both of those subjects came up a lot when we were in
San Francisco for some youth outreaches and to tape

some special editions of a youth broadcast. We did

not arrange for a quake while we were there, but we

did do a program based on them. And we actually

did originate parts of other programs from near the

Golden Gate Bridge and even on it. According to
some local friends of mine there, and they could

just be Californians pulling the leg of East Coast

boy, but they said that the bridge might be one

of the safer places to be during an earthquake.

No, it's not the one that folded during the last

big quake. They say one reason the Golden Gate
could withstand a quake is this surprising fact -

it's built in such a way that it's flexible. In other

words, when the earth under it starts moving,
it doesn't just stand there rigid and break. It's

built to flex when things are shaking. So,
apparently a quake might shake it, but

probably not break it.

The question is how do you react when things

start shaking all around you? The answer may

be the difference between cracking under the

stress and holding together through it. There's

a synergy between the plans we make and
God's plans that calls for some of that Golden

Gate flexibility.

Our word for today from the Word of God,

Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart a man plans his

course, but the Lord determines his steps."

The Bible acknowledges that we will make

plans; the question is whether those plans are

rigid - if we're rigid about having it our way.

That "but" after the part about our plans tells

me that God has the right to pre-empt my plan,

or delay my plan, or redirect my plan. After all,

that's what "Lord" means. Often He leads us
toward a certain outcome, only to surprise us

with an interruption, or with the realization that

He did want us on this road, but for a destination
other than the one we expected. But God's idea

is always a better idea. What looks like Plan B

to me may well have been God's Plan A all along.

"But the Lord determines his steps."

Notice how James teaches us to make our plans.

James 4:15, "You ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's

will, we will live and do this or that'." I'm a planner

by nature. I work hard on those plans, I pray about

those plans. I seek God's direction. But once the

plan is set, whether it's for the next few hours or the

next few years, I don't like change. But change is built
into the system, folks, and those who meet changes

with rigidity will eventually crack like an unmoving

structure in an earthquake. So, this recovering

"rigidaholic" is slowly but surely learning to enjoy

the surprises of God even when they don't appear

to be, at least at first, pleasant surprises. And even

if it's something Satan has thrown in, my Bible
tells me that even that had to be cleared first with

my Heavenly Father. If God said it was OK for

me, why don't I just try to roll with the quake?

I should point out that the Golden Gate Bridge,

while flexible, is not made of Play-Doh. It has solid

structure and so should your life and your days.
This is no excuse for laziness or lack of planning.

But it is an encouragement to folks who like con-

trol to loosen up a little bit and make room for God

to do His very dynamic thing. It's the ones who are

flexible that survive the shaking. Ron Hutchcraft