DAY 10

Throughout this entire fast, I have had a portion of scripture on repeat in my head. I have heard it over and over again: “I know the plans I have for you, I know the plans I have for you, I know the plans I have for you.”

And then it dawned on me, what an odd thing to say. Why wouldn’t He know the plans He has? He made them; He is the creator of all present from the very beginning of time. Why the need for the distinction? He doesn’t say “you know the plans I have for you” or “we know the plans.” He says “I.”

Have you ever been annoyed by a backseat driver? Have you ever been the annoying backseat driver? Now, there are drivers who could use the help for sure! But to the drivers who are competent and confident, a backseat driver could prove to be a bit of a nuisance. You could say the tendencies of backseat drivers stem from a lack of trust in the actual driver. Whether that is a lack of trust in the speed or direction the driver chooses to take, the backseat driver tends to think they could be trusted more to do it better.

When you are a baby, you’re put in a car with not a care in the world about where you are going and how you will get there—blind faith. All you know is that when you are cuddled by your mom and dad, you feel safe. It's as we get older that we become aware of time and our wants and needs in regards to the destination. In childhood, it's “are we there yet” on repeat; our awareness of time has kicked in, but our ability to understand it has not. 10 minutes might as well be 10 hours to a kid, all the while never questioning if we will actually make it. We trust that our parents know what they are doing. As we move into adulthood as a passenger, we are aware of it all. We have our own ideas of how things should go, how fast, how careful, and what route is best. So, it can be hard sometimes to relinquish that to someone else.

God, in His declaration of “I know the plans I have for you,” is asking us to do just that. Release our control, our need to backseat drive our life, and trust that His ways are better than our ways. That He has an aerial view of our lives and can see things that we just can’t see yet. Though the type of blind faith that a baby can have with its parents is something to be admired. But, it's the faith and trust we have in Jesus, even when we are not blind and are aware of what surrounds us, seeing that life is bumpy, or He goes right when we think He should have gone left, we still place ourselves in the hands of a good Father who leads us exactly in the way and at the time that we need.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13