But...I want to know it all!

12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and prayerful always. 13 When God’s children are in need, you be the one to help them out. (Romans 12:12-13 TLB)

Some of our plans don't always work out as we had hoped they would, do they? The best laid plans, so to speak, are pretty unreliable at times. I can remember when my kids were little and they'd get sick right around the major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. One or both would have an earache, runny nose, croupy cough, or some sort of thing hit them full-on. My plans were for a "normal" holiday, without the additional expense or worry of a sick child. Their plans were probably just to have fun. The reality was that some bug would catch up with them and they'd be sick! Plans don't always work out, but when we do our best to listen to God about what he plans for us, we have a much better chance of seeing the "right stuff" come out of those plans.

God makes plans - each part of those plans fitting into perfect order in our lives - even the sore throats and earaches "fit" somehow, although we may not know it at first. Maybe that sick child kept us home off the roads avoiding some catastrophic car accident or natural disaster. Perhaps their illness helped us dust off one of those books we used to read and just settle into some "alone time" with the kiddos. I am not saying God 'made' the kids sick, but it is quite possible their illness helps us grow together in some way as a family unit. That would be God's plan for the family - growth. So, even out of bad God can bring something quite good if we are willing to see it!

How hard it is for us to be patient in prayer. I know there are times in my own prayer life where I just blurt it out to God, wait a couple of seconds for an answer, and then give up in frustration because he 'didn't reveal his plans' as quickly as I'd have liked. Maybe  you are in the same boat on occasion, finding yourself 'less than patient' to see God reveal his plans, not really all that willing to get still enough to hear what he intends. I will say this, any opportunity God brings to 'still' my mind and soul is a good thing - because it usually re-centers my focus and opens me up to seeing what his plans might just be. I may not get the full picture, but I get hints of his intent and then I begin to act upon them. 

Some of us need to learn to be content with the 'hint of intent' God reveals and then take the necessary action God desires. It is in acting upon what we know to be true that we find greater truth. I don't know about you, but God doesn't always reveal his plans to me like an architect displays layer after layer of blueprints for a building project. There isn't that finite detail at first. I might see the 'first set' of prints, the ones were the work of leveling the ground begins, but do I see the finished product of that action ahead of me? Nope! I just act upon what he asks me to do. Prayer isn't going to always give us ALL the answers we need, but it will give us hints about the right direction we should be heading! Just sayin!