Sermon Tone Analysis

The Best Laid Plans…

Prayer

Let’s Pray- Heavenly father, please bless this message today.

Allow it to be led by your Holy Spirit.

God, allow this message to speak to the hearts of those that you intend it for.

In your holy name.

Amen.

The Best Laid Plans

Here’s the good news… I know it’s a holiday weekend and you all have places to be – this is going to be a short message.

When I timed it out it came in under 20 minutes so I’ll try to keep it around that for you this morning.

Have all heard of the saying “the best laid plans?”

The saying originated in the poem entitled To a Mouse by Robert Burns which was the inspiration for Steinbeck’s classic American novel Of Mice and Men.

Today I want to talk to you about a concept that I think everyone is already familiar with and that is that life rarely goes according to plan.

Now this is a touchy subject because as most of you know I’m a planner!

I plan out everything.

I’m not just a type A personality – I’m type A on steroids.

I think most everyone has seen the movie Home Alone.

If you haven’t or it’s been a while, it’s about an 8-year-old kid named Kevin.

He gets left behind when his family goes away on a Christmas vacation.

The iconic scene from that movie is when Kevin pretends to be shaving and slaps on some aftershave with both hands on his cheeks he yells, “agh!”

I know many people have re-enacted this scene when they see someone freaking out over the unexpected.

“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.”

In the gospel of Luke, Luke tells us about a dinner with a very special guest of honor, a dinner that didn’t go planned.

Luke chapter 10 verse 38 tell us, “As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.”

Now I don’t know about you, but I tend to go a little overboard when it comes to dinner parties.

So, I can only imagine what Martha was thinking when she was hosting a dinner for Jesus!! I’m sure she pulled her sister Mary aside and began talking about what the menu would look like of and what those foods would be served on.

I’m sure she had a plan in mind of how this dinner would go.

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I can sympathize with Martha, like many people I had pretty important plans in 2020, my husband Eric and I welcomed our baby girl Evelyn that year.

And I think most parents can relate to all of the planning that goes into having a baby.

Well, Eric and I found out we were expecting in January of 2020.

We were so excited, and once we were assured by the doctor everything was progressing as planned, we started telling family and friends our big news.

I started to plan in my head how my pregnancy was going to go.

Just like many expectant mothers I couldn’t wait to show off my growing “baby bump” to the world.

Well as you know, the best laid plans… Just a couple weeks after beginning to share our news the world shut down.

I spent the next 4 months in isolation.

I had to go all by myself to all of my doctors appointments and even my ultrasound, where we would find out if we were having a another girl or a boy.

Spoiler alert.. it was a girl.

Eric was only able to be there through a FaceTime call.

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As COVID continued to shut- down the world my plan for delivering my baby girl quickly changed from being surrounded by loved ones at the hospital to planning on it just being me and hopefully Eric at the hospital.

So I shifted my attention and began to plan the birth announcement, COVID couldn’t take this away from me.

I bought this beautiful swaddle banket to wrap our baby girl in and even splurged, buying myself a matching robe to wear.

I could picture me in the hospital bed holding my baby smiling for a picture perfect moment.

Well as you know… the best laid plans.

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On Thursday, July 30th, just as the world was starting to semi-open back up, I went to my 32 week check, the NP said I was starting to have abnormal labs and ordered bloodwork to check on my liver function.

The next morning, I was up by 6 am talking to Eric about our plans for the weekend when my phone rang.

I didn’t answer since I wasn’t in the market for an extended car warranty.

Then I saw I had a voicemail, and the number was calling me again.I figured at this point it was a call I wanted to take and answered the phone.

On the other end was my NP saying my liver numbers were elevated and she thought it would be best if I went to the hospital to be monitored.

I hung up the phone and was telling Eric- rearranging our days plans, when my phone rang again.It was the NP again but this time she told me BTW don’t eat or drink anything, just in case you have a baby today.

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After spending the weekend in the hospital being monitored – let me tell you being a human pin cushion for 4 days was NOT in my birth plan- at 8:15 Monday evening my doctor came and sat on the end of my bed and said that he and his team had decided my liver wasn’t handling the pregnancy well and it was time to deliver.

At 8:44pm Monday, August 3rd, Eric and I welcomed our daughter Evelyn 7 weeks early.

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Thankfully, the NICU team deemed Evelyn strong enough to allow me to get a quick glance and a picture before she was whisked off to her NICU.

This certainly was not the picture I had in mind.

I didn’t even print off a birth announcement, instead of Evelyn and I matching this is the picture I posted on Facebook to announce Evelyn’s arrival.

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I spent the next 24 hours alone in my hospital room, on strong medication that caused me to be on bedrest and was only able to see Evelyn through pictures Eric would send and Facetime calls.

In Eric’s defense he was going back and forth checking on me but he was under strict orders to stay with Evelyn- I had a team taking care of me she needed her father.

This was not what I had planned at all.

I was scared for my baby & I was mad and frustrated as I heard the mothers in the rooms beside me bonding with their babies while I lay alone sometimes feeling like it was a dream that I even delivered.

How Did I Get Here?

Maybe you have found yourself in a situation where you have felt stunned by something that has happened to you that you never saw coming.

Maybe you’re at a point where you are asking yourself “how did I get here?

This isn’t what I expected my life to look like.”

But the good news is nothing surprises God.

In 2 Timothy 1:9 God declares that He, “…saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

God calls every Christian to live a godly life, be a witness, grow up spiritually, walk in love with our brothers and sisters, and to produce the fruits of the Spirit.

God gave you a specific calling based on your gifts and desires, and this calling doesn’t change because something happens, or doesn’t happen.

Romans 11:29 tells us, “For gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

God sticks with His plan, it is never wavering, nothing derails Him.

Just like our plans fall apart, Martha’s dinner did not go as planned either.

As she is running around, like a chicken with her head cut off.

I’m sure refilling drinks and making sure everyone had enough to eat.

She sees Mary sitting enjoying herself, spending time with Jesus.

This is not what Martha had planned.

Now, this is the point where our lives intersect with Luke’s story.

Just like Martha had a plan, a vision of what her diner would look like, we have all had plans that never come to be.

Just as I was upset and jealous that the other moms got to spend time with their new babies as mine was in the NICU.

Where Is God?

This is the point where we can decide to blame God.

Where is God??

After all God could have kept this from happening.

What’s the point of making plans, or trying?

Really after all of the years you spent putting in your time on Sunday morning.

After all of the time you spent studying the Bible and trying to live the right way doing countless good deeds.

So, you blame God that you’re plans didn’t come to life.

Just as frustrated as we get when our events don’t go as planned, Martha marched up to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work?”

If you’ve been daydreaming or making your grocery list in your head, I want you to listen to this part…

It is a mistake to wrap our faith in GOD in the fulfillment of our plans.

The foundation to our faith is not everything going our way like some Disney fairytale.

It is a mistake to wrap our faith in GOD in the fulfillment of our plans.

Let me repeat that for you.. It is a mistake to wrap our faith in GOD in the fulfillment of our plans.

That’s the definition of being a “fair-weather Christian,” when things go as I planned God is so good or God loves me, but when things don’t go my way, we say I can’t put my faith in a God that would allow this to happen.

Jesus answered Martha “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over these details!

There is only one thing worth being concerned about.

Mary discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”