When a plan comes together

"I love it when a plan comes together." I think more often than not, when we say that, it is after we've had a rather half-baked plan and the stars have somehow aligned and all of a sudden we're looking back a bit dumbstruck, amazed that everything turned out so splendidly.

Today, I had no plan, except to leave for work on time and to make sure I squeezed in my reading for the day. I achieved both goals by 7:05 and jumped into the car pondering Paul's words in Romans 4. Abraham was a pretty amazing guy. He believed the promise of God even when he was stretched to the breaking point. When the angel told him ole' Sarah would be having a baby in her 80's, he took him at his word. When God asked him to sacrifice the son of promise on an altar, he was ready to obey, up to the moment God provided a substitute. He uprooted his family and went wherever God told him to go. Abraham could well point to his record and figure he was in pretty good shape. But God told him it was not his resume that was impressive, it was his faith.

When I am tempted to think I'm all that and a bag of chips, God reminds me that it is not what I do that brings his declaration of acceptance - it is the belief of my heart that he is who he said he is, and my desire to be wholly devoted to him. THIS is the crux of the matter: when we were unable to meet his expectations on our own, rather than lose us altogether, he came himself and took what we deserved on himself so that by grace alone, we could receive his righteousness.

I had completed this whole line of thinking before the garage door was up and was basking in his amazing love.

As I backed out of the driveway and pointed the car to the east, I was met by a nearly unspeakable sight. The layers of rippled clouds were only partially camoflaging the morning sun yearning to burst through. The pinks and orange streaks were painted across the sky and a sole beam of light was penetrating the canvas, shooting straight up, as if it were connecting heaven and earth. There were several other points of light straining like a horse against a bit to break free. I gasped out loud, moved to the depths by this incredible display of beauty and majesty and power.

The words to a favorite song came to mind, and I was compelled to sing as I drove:
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

The magic lasted only a few minutes - not even long enough for me to get past the views obstructed by powerlines to pull over and take a picture. The sun did break through and shine so brightly I could not look upon it. I imagined the face of God and how his overwhelming light-filled majesty will send us to our knees, unable to bear his brightness and his beauty.

It was like the execution of the perfect plan had just played out before my eyes. It was no coincidence that the reading for Jan. 26 was from Romans 4 and that it illicited a response of awe-filled gratitude. That gratitude was met with a spectatular display of light and color which commanded a deeper sense of worship, followed by the inconquerable sun bursting through brighter than ever announcing the day and declaring who was in charge of it all.

What an incredible way to start a day...and for some inconceivable reason known to God alone, I got to be a part of his plan.