Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Genesis 12:1-4

Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. Our lives are subject to detours and corrections that we never expected or imagined.

Abraham and Sarah could testify to that. They were planning for retirement when life "happened" to them. God adjusted their agenda. He told Abraham to get out of the country and the home he had lived in, his whole life.

God gave Abraham and Sarah new marching orders, and without a map. They needed only enough faith to begin the journey, and they headed to unknown territories and unimagined adventures. God never told them what He had in mind. God fulfilled His promise that Abraham would have a son who would be a great nation.

Make your plans. Write them on paper, in pencil. Don't write them in concrete with pen in hand. God and life have a way to leading us on a journey that you might not have anticipated in your wildest dreams.

A man's heart plans his way,

but the LORD directs his steps.

Our Daily Bread - November 5, 2004