Christ Our Shepherd Lenten Devotion Series 2024
New Chapters in Location
March 8, 2024
The following Lenten devotional on the theme of New Chapters in Location comes from Ashleigh Reyes.
But I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31:14
After a long day of teaching, and then staying late for an open house curriculum night, I walked into my garage and stepped into standing water. What?!
Then I walked into my house, and it is literally raining water from the ceiling into my kitchen. What?!
I quickly called my husband to ask how to turn off the water. And to let him know he needed to come home ASAP. A neighbor showed up to help me turn the water off. After all the chaos of trying to get that taken care of, the shock set in of what had just happened. During the only 2 hours someone was not in the house that day, a pipe had burst upstairs and flooded both the upstairs and downstairs. My house was flooded and there was standing water everywhere. Finally, after spending the next few hours frantically cleaning up water, we were left to try to figure out what to do next. GOD, what do we do next? All I could think was “God has a plan, God has a plan, God has a plan”.
Well, the next few days, weeks, months were a whirlwind. Our house wasn’t livable in its condition. Within 3 days, we ended up moving into a house (in the same neighborhood) we had initially purchased to use as a rental. The catch? That house was unfinished and just as much a mess as the flooded house (“the broken house” as my boys came to call it). But, it had running water and a working kitchen despite needing a complete overhaul. And with 2 little boys, this was going to be a huge mess. If you’ve ever done a major renovation with little kids, you know. Once again, “God has a plan, God has a plan, God has a plan”.
I have a hard time letting go and trusting that there is a plan. But honestly, that’s about all I could do during those days when I was just helplessly waiting on things to be fixed and be more livable. Well, we ended up deciding to stay in the “rental” house permanently and turning “the broken house” into our rental property. What?! I never saw that one coming! Again…“God has a plan, God has a plan, God has a plan”. Whether you are faced with an unexpected change of location, or a change that you know is coming and have time to plan for, it’s still important to remember, “God has a plan, God has a plan, God has a plan.”
This song about trusting in the Lord is one of many that got me through quite a few moments where I couldn’t see an hour in front of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0olo_-_LEY
Prayer:
Dear Lord, You are the master planner. Help us to trust that you always have a plan. When we trust in you, we are a strong mountain that cannot be moved. In Jesus name, Amen.