Preparing, Planning, Predicting…

I popped round to church yesterday. I helped carry a Christmas tree. There was talk of the stable coming out(!) Some of us will be decorating the church next Saturday. Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent. We’re starting to prepare for Christmas.

Wife-Rachel recently had a birthday. Son-Pete gave her a family calendar for next year. I have my (paper!) 2025 diary… we’re already past Christmas and planning for 2025!

Yesterday the new roof went on our conservatory. Richard, Danny and Sam took off the old glass roof, added timber to the existing metal frame, and put on the new board and insulation roof. It was evident that they had a clear plan. Today it will be the soffits, facias and guttering, then roof tiles, internal plasterboard, electrics…

Yesterday afternoon I met Roy. We often have a cup of tea together and play chess. We’re planning – two, three moves ahead, trying to predict what the other will do. We talked about his work, his personal life, looking to his future, planning, predicting…

A number of friends are considering their future… a young couple expecting a baby, a gent recovering from cancer surgery, a wife whose husband has dementia, a teacher who’s stressed and unsettled in his work… Preparing and planning for the future is necessary; predicting what the future will hold is impossible.

My annual journey through the Bible brought me to Romans this morning and a paragraph that starts: ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’

I’m reminded… God has a plan. It might not be clear to me, but in my unpredictable life God is active and working for my good.

The paragraph ends: ‘…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ My loving God is always there with my best interests at heart!