Today’s Word: Acceptance

“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I awoke the other morning with every intention of getting an early walk in around a local lake before the heat of St. Louis summer kicked into high gear. Alas, as I came into consciousness, I heard the pounding of rain on the roof and deck outside my window, the steady drum of thunder somewhere off in the distance. Dang. The best laid plans of mice and men and all that…

There are two ways to respond when life gives us rain when all we want to do is get out in the world and walk. We can pound our pillows in exasperation, pull the covers over our heads and go back to sleep. Or we can get out of bed, thank God for gift of his gentle and good rain, and see what else he has for us to do.

We have to make plans, of course. Very little would get done in my life without my trusty online calendar and hand-written daily to-do list. The danger is giving our plans — the little to-do lists as well as the big life-choice plans — so much credence and so little flexibility that we remain closed off to the voice and gentle nudge of God saying, “not today, not today. I got something else for you today.”

“We make plans and God laughs” some old wise rabbi once said, and I find that to be true over and over again. And, really, my plans can end up being a little boring and predictable. But God’s plans, when they insert themselves into my life like an unexpected morning rain storm? That’s when miracles happen. Be open to the movement of God into your life. Be gentle and flexible with your own plans, however well thought out and treasured. Let it rain when it rains. There’s very little good to be found by fighting the storm anyway.

Ask yourself in silence: When was the last time God inserted himself into my well laid plans? What happened?