Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s mind plans his way [as he journeys through life],
But the Lord directs his steps and establishes them.” [AMP]
My husband and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary this week. Hopeless romantic that I am, I couldn’t help but reminisce about our unlikely story….
As many of you know, Chip and I met when he picked me up hitchhiking outside the the Grand Canyon. He had just gotten back from Viet Nam and I had just completed my first year of grad school at the University of Colorado. Like every good child of the sixties, we were seeking. Disillusioned with everything “establishment,” we questioned who we were, where we were going, whether our lives made sense. War can do that to people. So could living in Boulder, Colorado, in those days.
We (and the two friends I was hitchhiking with) rolled out our sleeping bags for the night somewhere near Albuquerque. Then Chip and I began to talk. When the sun rose the next morning, we were still talking. Two strangers, both experiencing soft identity crises, in the middle of a beautiful nowhere, thinking we would never see each other again, all converged into a river of transparency. Or maybe it was God, just establishing his purpose.
Who but a sovereign God could create such an intersection? I had no idea when I planned that trip I would meet my future husband. Chip was just being kind and generous when he offered a ride to three hippie-looking travelers. But God knew. As Solomon noted, we humans make our plans, but God uses those plans and directs our steps to bring about purposes we never dreamed possible. And if you haven’t realized it yet, his plans far exceed our own.
As Chip left us that morning to head east, music from Carole King played from his console. “I Feel the Earth Move” proved to be prescient. Somewhere during our conversation that night—maybe it was 2 am or 5—all our defensive walls started tumbling down. Our hearts trembled with awareness of the communication that transpired between us. The earth moved. And so did God.
If you don’t know God has an outrageous plan for your life, now’s a good time to talk to him about it. Don’t be afraid to give him control. Then get ready for the earth to move.