Embrace His Agenda.
My Sundays are regimented to a fault. I wake up around 8:30; I leave my house around 9:45 for Mass; I attend 10 AM Mass; I make myself an omelet with bell peppers and onions; I take a nap; I watch the 1 PM NFL games; if one of my teams isn’t playing, I’ll fall asleep until the 4 PM games; I scavenge for dinner; I write a reflection; I go to bed.
This schedule doesn't vary much because it is a foolproof way to recharge before another week in purgatory—I mean, law school. I value a routine that works and feeds the part of my soul I don’t always take care of (namely, the part that loves leisure).
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So, naturally, I was a bit trepidatious when I was asked to aid in a conversation at my church right when *checks notes* I should be napping. On top of that, I was supposed to serve at and attend the 5 PM Mass, which is clearly scavenge for dinner time. There was no nap time or use of my NFL Sunday Ticket on the agenda…how was a girl supposed to recoup for the week?
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10. NIV.
And y’all, unsurprisingly, it was one of the best Sundays I had in a long time. In celebration of Black Catholic History Month, we had a wonderful talk about the Black Church with a Priest and Scholar from Fordham, a stunning Mass featuring a Gospel Choir, and I got treated to the best seafood pasta in all of New Haven shortly thereafter. And I’m watching the defensive showdown between the Bears and the Buccaneers, so I’m still getting my NFL fix despite the shakeup in my routine.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:8–11. NIV.
The lesson for me is not to be so rigid that I miss all the ways God wants to use me. While I love a schedule and having control over how I spend every moment of every day, being open to God’s perfect orchestration will always leave me more fulfilled, more inspired, and more in awe of Him. He has amazing ways of placing you exactly where you are supposed to be so He can transform you into who you are meant to be. Sometimes, that requires you to let go of your agenda and to embrace His.
For my friends who are type-A like me, leave some room in your G-Cal for God to rock your world. Never be so focused on what you want that you miss what God needs you to receive.
This week, I pray that we have the flexibility to let God fix our schedule. I pray that we let Him show us where we need to be and release our hold on our own desires. I pray that we are all equipped to embrace His agenda, no matter what that does to our own.
