I want to share how God touched my life in a personal and intimate way. This special experience taught me the meaning of Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
By God’s grace, my plan of “downsizing” materialized in January this year. I prepared a moving plan with an ideal time-line as to when each task was to be completed according to my schedule. Ten days after Chinese New Year in February, I started packing and moving boxes of fragile items to my new home. I also confirmed with a house removal company to move all the big and heavy items such as furniture on 19th March. All the while I thought house moving day was a Wednesday.
All went smoothly until the Sunday before 19th March. That day, before my morning devotion, I checked the calendar and realized to my horror that 19th March was a Tuesday.
“Oh dear! I need 2 more days to pack and clear up everything in the house. Now I only have one day to pack!” I was panic-stricken for the first time in my life and at a loss what best to do. I was in tears! I was home alone! I could only cry out, “God, help me! Help me please!”
I was in this panicky state for a while. Somehow I reached out for my hand phone and turned it on. There was a message posted on the Ellis Road SG chat group stating, “Be strong and courageous…Do not be afraid and terrified.” (Deuteronomy 31:6,8) That was exactly what I needed at that moment! I prayed, “Yes, Lord! I need to be strong and courageous and not be afraid and terrified. Thank You for answering to my cry.”
Then I told myself, “TMC mezzanine floor is open for prayers on Sunday, I need to be prayed for.” As I left for church, there was a 3-word message for me on the chat group – “Praying for you!” It was so comforting! What miraculous timing and provision of the Lord in response to my need.
God gives me friends to face life’s battles. A group of 8 brothers- and sisters-in-Christ sacrificed their Sunday afternoon to help me pack and move everything to my new home. My scheduled 2-day pack-and-move was completed in one afternoon. By 5pm that Sunday, my house moving was 70-80% done. Praise the Lord!!
Through my house moving experience, the first 4 realities of “Experiencing God” have become more real to me. For those who are not studying “Experiencing God” and to help refresh the memories of those who have done it, these are:-
1. God is always at work around me.
2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with me that is real and personal.
3. God invites me to become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways. I feel God speaking directly to me through the two paragraphs at the bottom of page 100 in Unit 5.
“God wants us to follow Him daily, not just to follow a plan. If we try to spell out all the details of His will in a planning session, we tend to think, Now that we know where we are going and how to get there, we can get the job done. Then we forget the need about the need for a daily, intimate relationship with God. We may set about to accomplish our plans and forget about the relationship. Or God may try to lead us to do a new thing, but we reject it because it is not in our long-range plan! God created us for an eternal love relationship. Life is our opportunity to experience Him at work.
It isn’t wrong to plan. Just be careful not to plan more than God intends you to do. Let God interrupt or redirect your plans anytime He wants. Remain in a close relationship so you can always hear His voice when He speaks to you.”
Let us always bear in mind “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”(Prov 19:21)
Ting Hwa Kie
member of Ellis Road Small Group
Trinity Methodist Church, Kuching