Not the Day We Planned

Growing Daily

Not the Day We Planned

My wife and I are celebrating our anniversary today. 31 years ago, we were set to have an outdoor wedding at a beautiful location by the sea. Everything was ready... except for the weather.

It had been gorgeous for weeks, but our worries grew as Hurricane Opal swept northward. Sure enough, the remnants of the storm roared through on the morning of the 7th, leaving our wedding day rainy and gray. Thankfully, we had booked a small church as a backup.

That day didn’t look anything like we had envisioned.  But years later, I realize the weather really didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.  In fact, the storm now makes for a more interesting story.  Time has a way of putting things into perspective.

Of course, I worried about plenty of things besides the rain that day.  And years later, there’s certainly no shortage of new things to worry about. But Jesus once asked, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:27). 

It's a good question.  We give an incredible amount of attention to things that seem enormous in the moment, but eventually shrink into little more than a memory.  Circumstances that once consumed our thoughts become a footnote—or even a funny detail—in a much larger story.

Today, don’t give temporary worries and frustrations more importance than they deserve.  The rain may change your plans, but it doesn’t change God’s purposes (Proverbs 19:21).


- Ron Reid