Today I was called down to another team at work to help troubleshoot an ongoing problem with one of their airplanes. This was their third day of looking at the problem, so a lot of time had already been spent on this issue. After another day of troubleshooting, with everything working according to the blueprints, the last option was to ask the guys upstairs, who know a whole lot more than us, what they thought. After looking at the blueprints, they told us there was absolutely nothing wrong; even though the way this system was operating was strange, and not often seen, the system was working according to the blueprints. It was working in normal operation.
You ever sit back and try to troubleshoot you life? I know I do. Even though I have faith, I still have times of doubt. So I question myself…..”Am I where I’m supposed to be? Am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing? What if I did this, would that change how things are going right now?” I think it’s completely normal to question our lives, but at some point we just have to let it go.
God has a plan for each and every one of us. The hard part about getting through life is that we don’t know what this plan is. The airplane, in my example, worked according to plan. No matter how hard we tried to find something wrong with it, it was working the way it was supposed to. Our lives are working according to God’s plan. No matter how hard we try to find something wrong with them, they also, are working the exact way they are supposed to.
You think that Noah tried to troubleshoot his life? I do. When God told him to build an Ark, collect all these animals and get ready to set sail, I’m pretty sure for a few minutes he was thinking, “Ummm, I don’t even like animals that much,” or possibly, “God, I can’t even build a bookshelf without my Ikea instructions.” What about Moses? When God told him it was his job to take the Israelites from Egypt I’m sure for a quick second he was trying to figure out an excuse…….”You see God, uh, the Pharaoh told me that its my responsibility to make the bricks for the next two weeks.” But both of their lives were working in normal operating conditions.
Even Jesus, in his darkest hour, had a few questions about exactly where He was in His life….whether His life was going the way it was supposed to or whether there may have possibly been another way. He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:41-42.)
If Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World is questioning if His life is working according to the blueprints God engineered, then of course I am going to go through times when I question my life. So when the doubts creep in, the drain mast starts to heat up while the plane is on the ground (our troubleshooting issue), and things just really don’t seem like they are operating normally, just remember……you can’t break something that isn’t made to be broken. We may see our lives as broken, but that’s not the way God sees our lives. Like a quote I remember hearing once, “You can’t see the picture from inside the frame.”
By faith, we allow our lives to run their course, knowing that God’s purpose for us will be fulfilled. James says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4.) AKA, ALL SYSTEMS OPERATING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS!!!
Tetelestai 