We have all heard that God has a unique plan for each and every one of us. We have probably all thought that is so cliche, or not me, or why would God waste time on a plan for me. I'm not worthy to carry out a plan he has. I know I have, and I struggle with this all the time. Well, I guess I don't struggle with it, I do believe that He has a plan, I do believe that He cares about me and has this perfect plan for my life. What I struggle with is the execution of the plan. How can I execute a plan where I don't know the details. I struggle with the things in life that get in the way of His plan. I have had some recent experiences that help me a little. I do know the plan will never be crystal clear and we have to have faith, be open to the "signs" of the plan and be willing to act when God gives us one of those signs.
Recently I have visited Shanghai twice within just over a month. OK, that's not a big deal or nothing new, I travel for work all the time and have been blessed with visiting the better half of the USA, some of the middle east including Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Israel, Jordan, and probably a few countries I don't remember. I've been to Germany, India, England, Denmark, Norway and several other countries in Europe. So why has this trip been so special to me. One is the 14 hour flight home which has given me some time to reflect on the past few months. It's clear God has a plan for me, I just don't know the end game yet.
As I look back over my last 41 years, my schooling (or lack of), my career, and everything else I see the plan that has already been executed. This gives me some glimmer of what the future plan might be. Now I may never know His full plan, but having this glimmer gives me hope. Having this past experience of seeing so many places around the world I believe has had some valuable lessons from God that He felt I need to learn. It's interesting to me that a guy with my background (barely graduating high school, spending some time in and out of college classes but never graduating) can be the success that I am today. By no means am I the most successful person on the planet, but I think I do pretty good. I have a great career that I know a lot of people would love. A career that most people would need to have a college degree to get. But the experiences God has given me through earlier parts of my career has given me the experience to land the career I have now. The places I have visited has given me the connections, the culture, and skills to do what I do.
For a long time I have thought that the place I am right now in my career (working on creating the software) was my end game. It's a career dream I have had for a LONG time, a dream I have been chasing for just as long. In fact, I have written about that journey a couple of times and how we can never give up the battles we believe in. We also have to remember it is not our timing, it is on His timing. I can see that this dream I have had for so long (making the software) has started to give me the skills for the next thing in life that He has planned for me. So in fact, what I am doing now isn't His end game, it's just a step in the execution plan. I like to think I have an idea of what this journey will have in store for me, but the truth is I don't. I need to release the outcome and simply follow the journey. You hear people say that when one door closes, another one opens. I think that is so true. Behind this door, are of course some new skills, some new talents so to speak, it's also an opportunity to use existing skills and talents. More importantly the past few months have been for me about building new relationships, I have met a few people in my travels to Shanghai who I now consider very close friends. This one guy, Nick, and I have had some deep discussions about life and also shared some career skills. He is an inspiration to me and is very wise in life and the "pursuit of happiness".
I believe that God has put me in Shanghai to meet Nick, to learn from him some things that I will need in my journey in this life. I'm extremely thankful for that. Nick has been a great friend, welcoming me into his life, introducing me to his family and ensuring that while I visit Shanghai I am taken care of.
When I take a step back and reflect, like I am now I think about how big the world is, and how many people are in it, it becomes very clear to me that He does have a plan. How could someone from 7,000 miles away have such an impact on my life. Someone that I would have never met if there wasn't a plan. You don't just randomly meet someone 7,000 miles away. You randomly meet someone in the neighborhood or local grocery store. I'm looking forward to this amazing friendship that God has blessed me with. :-)
