Imagine that you decide to build an ambitious vehicle table set. This project is designed to see which of, and how, your car and train creations will "succeed" in the journeys prepared for them, against a series of obstacles, and programmed with a number of options. For each creation, you build a special roller-coaster.
You spend a great deal of time on your creation; Letting your imagination soar with each roller-coaster created. You imagine the different attributes each vehicle will possess to successfully accomplish the twists and turns built into the rides, as well as the technical aptitude for the vehicle to stand at the peak of the ride, to provide a stunning view of its accomplishment and your work At its best. You fall in love with each vehicle, as you first draw then bring to life. You marvel at the large and flashy vehicles' wheels, lights, horns and capacities. You take pleasure in the painstaking patience needed to equip the mid to pint-sized vehicles, down to the microscopic details such as personalized license plates and tire treads.
You program safety features in the vehicles that allow them to detect smaller than vulnerable vehicles and come to a complete stop should such a vehicle veer off its track. The smaller vehicles and more so the pint-sized cars and trains are programmed to stop and immediately turn either left or right, should their lights sense a larger vehicle that has steered off its track. You do not foresee any problems as long as each car and train sticks to its intended purpose. You have programmed a series of variables that the individual calculators may play with within reason, to ensure that the vehicle creatively and safely accomplishes intended course.
You complete the rest of your perfectly created world, adding back and foreground scenery, and sit back, ready to watch. You have faith in what you have created because there is no greater talent than your own, and whereas typically you create things for practical purposes (it is your job), you have invested something more in this creation. It is a personal investment in your abilities and you are looking forward to watch each vehicle take on its journey, in spite of its physical and mechanical capabilities, roller coaster, and ability to turn to the various choices you have allowed.
You are particularly looking forward to see which vehicles will proceed from start to finish in its intended path, for this is the wildest yet most pleasing view. You have designed each vehicle with a special horn that is to go off the should the vehicle successfully make the steep climb to the top without a hitch. This horn blowing turns into a spectacular display of lights and fireworks at the top, and all the way down to the finish line. You can not wait to observe this, for it is one thing to create and another to watch.
At your command, all vehicles in their various hums, lights and flashes proceed to start. Some vehicles immediately take off with gusto, to your unexpected delight and clap. Some vehicles stall and you look with mouth turned down as they attempt to recalculate their paths and capabilities, with some machines overloading and crashing instantaneously, while a few others take hesitant steps in all manner of direction. Some of your creations proceed in a slow but steady trail, observing all the inbuilt rules and to your marvel, stop when a smaller vehicle is observed in sight, and patiently wait behind others that veer off their tracks.
You are upset with a few vehicles, especially the large flashy ones that do not observe the inbuilt function to stop and wait when in the presence of a more vulnerable machine. It seems for these vehicles that their computers choose to override safety mechanisms. You are displeased but not worried, only feel sad because it would have been a joy to see the large vehicle with all its flashes at the peak of its ride. This will not be so, for your creation can only take so much jostling, before the internal system either crashes or the vehicle completely veers off its path and out of the world you have created.
You have personally built all the machines and know each route and capability, so much so, that you find yourself passionately speaking to the vehicles:
You can do it, just turn off that safety feature and go! (Frustration) What are you doing, I did not build you to go bulldoze your way to the top, and you are going to crash and fall! (Pain) Oh how wonderful, you made it through the first three peaks without a hitch, oh my, I can not wait to see you get through the main one, I'm rooting for you! (Elation) What was I thinking, giving you that horn, you have not stopped tooting since you started and you have not even gone through one obstacle yet! (Amusement) Please, little train, you can do it, if only you would quit stopping whether or not you perceive an obstacle in your way. That car you perceive is miles away and now near you, how I wish you could put your safety feature into better use and not use it as an obstacle to itself (Plead).
You watch in glee as some of your vehicles make it to the peak of the ride, and all the inbuilt features light up and make a rowdy noise, fireworks going off as the vehicle stands. Some vehicles fail to start the descent, seemingly stuck at the top with the never-ending lights, noise and fireworks, and you watch in horror as the vehicle stays at the top for longer than programmed, for you know exactly why you alloted the amount Of time to each vehicle as you did. Some rides are unable to support the weight of the vehicle after a certain amount of time, some vehicles are unable to operate at maximum capacity for extended periods of time as would be required at the peak, some vehicles have a number of rides inbuilt into them And the allotted time enables multiple runs around the table.
You watch as inbuilt computers fry, lights fail, fireworks frizzle, cars die, fall off or veer off into different vehicles' paths, causing a chain reaction with other vehicles. You are stupefied as vehicles crashed off their course run into yet others, or simply stop in their tracks, so that other vehicles are then stalled, reprogrammed or thrown off the table. You watch in horror as vehicles programmed to run multiple times barely make it down the roller-coaster, mechanisms fried for their insistence at sticking at the top and not to the plan.
You watch in elation as some of your vehicles finally shut off their safety features and start their journey. You cheer them on as they go over their obstacles; Applaud their inbuilt calculations for effectively dealing with the veering or seemingly approaching vehicles on the way. You have tears of joy streaming down your face as you watch vehicles reach their small then ultimate peak, proceed to go down the path after the allotted time has passed and proceed to make several runs until the vehicle's lifetime has passed. You are honored as you watch the fireworks, the lights, music and noise fromcoming vehicles, the sight of large patient vehicles stop for smaller ones, small vehicles immediately move out of the way of large vehicles wheezing by.
You have your eye on every vehicle. You lovingly pick up the pieces of wrecked vehicles veered off their path and off the table by other reckless vehicles. You place these on your work table, for you will be able to rebuild the pieces, and know just how much stronger you will make them so they may last next time around. You proudly pick up the vehicles that successfully run their course to the end of their useful life, and place them intact in your cabinet of achievements.
You angrily pick up the vehicles that steered or fell off the table due to ambitious calculations that defied your intent. These pieces you dump in the garbage, for even if you were to put the pieces back together again, the mechanisms are flawed and of no use to you. In your mind you think, if only you stuck to plan A. I gave you options and choices, not so that you may steer away from the perfect plan I created for you, but you may avoid danger , So you may make it through to the end of your useful life successfully. If only you stuck with plan A, for I had such wonderful plans for you.
God has His eye on every one of us. He designed specific plans for our lives, with obstacles and achievements that belong to us individually, so that they can only ever be shared (hence, I share your pain, I share your joy). For each obstacle that is in our way, He has a plan for us to conquer it, not only this, but for our reward at the end of the obstacle, if only we stick to Plan A. Plan A is trusting that greater than our Goal for ourselves, we have Christ, the Ultimate Goal. Better than any plan we envision, we have the Master Architect, the Creator of our individual rides, so that there is not a single misfortune, obstacle or blessing that He will not have known or planned first.
God has so planned our lives, that He knows every single loss and blessing long before it take place. All He requests is that we completely trust and follow the plan He has for us, and more than anything, trust that in Christ, He has fully equipped us to deal with and come out on top of everything that He allows to come our way. Believe this, and the way you think about opportunities, losses, gains, loves and life will change. You will stop abusing (misuse) the inbuilt features placed in you for your success, and start to climb the special roller-coaster built just for you, in all its dips, turns AND PEAKS as only you can. You will discover that this will be easy to do, for it is what you were built to do. Who you are is not a mystery to God; It is a mystery to you. What you can really do is something He would love to show you, so much so that He died for you, so that you may know.
Stick to Plan A, if already chosen, choose Plan A if not. Not the substitution, not your level best, but the best, as it was always intended for you by the One who MADE you. You are His creation. There is nothing else that would please Him more than to see you perform at your optimum, your ultimate best, as He intended. There is no greater joy than you¡¯re seeking His Plan A for you. It's your ride, He never meant for you to take it or off alone, for you were not created that way. Your personal best could never compare to what He has planned for you. Now imagine this – the One who created indescribable things such as Air and Water is waiting to tell you what He has created, just for you.
