Working God's Plan

I know that I have mentioned this on various occasions, but it is worth repeating in today’s post… being that my wife and I made a really good team!  We started working together as a team even before we officially started dating each other.  Whether it was organizing a day at the beach with our group of friends, a softball game at Howarth Park, or helping to organize and lead different events as seniors in high school or sliding into leadership roles at Piper’s church from high school on… we simply flowed together with a great sense of simpatico… and it only got better as the years went on!

I am not totally sure why or how it came about… but we both seemed to have a knack, a talent or the natural ability to plan, organize and lead big events, be it for school, church, work and/or family activities!  That’s probably one of the many reasons that we enjoyed family camping.  We always tried to make it a very special event for our kids.  There were even a few times where I planned and put together a complete retreat-like curriculum for our kids and Piper and I to participate in during our week-long stays in the Redwoods or the Sierra’s.

Piper and I tended to have different giftings that blended well and flowed between us when we operated in these leadership positions.   And when I wrote programs for the Youth group or Children Church events, I would knowingly intertwine each of our individual talents, giftings and unique experiences into the presentation plans!  And it is not like we had to sit down and talk through these steps (unless it was for a particular part in a play or musical number) for we just tended to smoothly inter-act and automatically step in when and where needed.

As the years of our relationship increased, we grew more assured of the innerworkings of our team and basically took much of it for granted while thanking the Lord for His blessings upon our marriage and ministry.

But my confidence in that flow between us was greatly shaken when we were asked to take over the Children’s Church ministry at our home church following our three years stay for Bible School in Oklahoma.  The very first time I picked up my guitar and began to lead the group in a fun song to start a Sunday morning Children’s’ service, I knew that I was in trouble!  The kids noticeable lack of participation starkly reminded me that with the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, our two-person team was not functioning like it used to… as my co-leader, cheer-leader and confident inter-actor with the kids was no longer able to physically and cognitively flow with me and the students as we had before.

Lately, I have once again been feeling a huge hole in what had always been a two-person parenting… and grand-parenting team… for our children and their kids!  Having to step into the role of both grandpa and grandma (or Mee-Maw as the kids called Piper), has been an eye opener for me.  Not that it has been a difficult one, but one that has and continues to take a steep learning curve for me.  Piper, similar to her homeschooling teacher role, was a natural with the kids and I (to be perfectly honest) simply followed her lead!  And without her… well… there has been no lead to follow!  But I am thankful that I knew her and her heart so well, that I can many times flow in a similar anointing as she did!

That said… I would have to say… that there is nothing more exciting than to have your two-year-old grandson drop whatever he is doing and run up to grandpa with his arms up and a big smile on his face… it kind of makes all the effort well-worth it… RIGHT?

In my Christian walk over the years, I have also come to see how the workings of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, run very similar to the continuity that Piper and I had between us.  In Galatians 5:22-23, the Apostle Paul wrote that,

“The FRUIT produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine LOVE in all its varied expressions: JOY that overflows, PEACE that subdues, PATIENCE that endures, KINDNESS in action, a life full of GOODNESS, FAITH that prevails, GENTLENESS of heart, and SELF-CONTROL. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” (TPT) 

Piper and I, and probably most of you reading this today, know that in order for a marriage to flow smoothly and last for a lifetime, both partners have to be committed to make it work… but not just to make it work, but to do your best to make your marriage relationship rewarding, open to continual growth, exciting and just plain FUN! 

I think the FUN we kept very much alive in our relationship is the part of Piper’s and my marriage that I remember the most!  I can’t tell you how many times a day when I’ll see a picture on the wall or capture a thought that makes me suddenly burst out laughing over a memory of something FUN and or silly that she did, I did or that we experienced together! 

All those activities stirred the embers of our love and respect for each other and fine-tuned the “oneness” that we operated in with our family, ministry and pretty much everything we did!  The FUN and other “tools” of our marriage that we continued to work on through the years helped to keep us unified and function as a hand-crafted and well-oiled machine!

In its discussion of the Fruit of the Spirit, the Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary states that “the singular FRUIT (of the Spirit), as compared with the plural works (of the flesh), suggests that the effect of the Spirit’s inworking is one harmonious whole.”  In other words, the Fruit of the Spirit’s various expressions of LOVE (as our verse describes them) work best when they are in sync or in harmony with each other… and believe me when I say that the “FRUIT” operating in this type of “oneness” is a most beautiful thing to behold… whether you are the giver or the receiver!

But be warned! 

Not all people out there will always be receptive to the operation of the “FRUIT” in your life.  Most times, from what I’ve experienced, it is because the individual is having a difficult time in believing that people can be that nice or calm in the midst of trying situations.  And that happens for various reasons like, they’ve never seen the “FRUIT” in operation in their lives, or they think it is make believe, impossible or has some devious motive behind the action.  They might also realize that it is not the way that they would have responded and could be angry, fearful and maybe a bit jealous that they didn’t or couldn’t respond as you did!

But no matter what the response is to your allowing the “FRUIT” of the Spirit to function in your life… DON’T STOP!  Many times, a negative reaction can give us an opportunity to gently share the Good News of the Gospel of LOVE with the individuals involved!

And my advice would be to look for opportunities in your everyday life in which to practice and hone your skills in applying the FRUIT of the Spirit to the situations you face.  I really like how The Passion Translation explains the various expressions of the “FRUIT” and in particular describing the characteristic of PEACE as a “PEACE that SUBDUES!”  Which leads me to understand (through study and personal experience) that it is speaking of a PEACE that SUBDUES the circumstances of life that we find ourselves involved with each and every day.

That kind of PEACE tends to keep you protected from the indoctrination of FEAR and the ways that it wants you to respond when things turn upside down.  It helps you to maintain an attitude of SELF-CONTROL… and allows for the other expressions of the “FRUIT” to manifest themselves as needed and bring solutions and safety into your midst.  It’s the various expressions of LOVE working as “one harmonious whole” right-smack-dab in the middle of the natural situation around you… bringing physical, emotional and spiritual answers to your day!

…And if you listen closely… you might just hear the Holy Spirit inside you say: “I love it when a plan (God’s plan) comes together! 

Have a great conclusion to your week, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s best working in you, for you and through you, by the operation of the FRUIT of the Spirit in the various situations of your life!