You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail
Proverbs 19:21
Who would have figured that a little snow would have effected Gilmer County the way it has? Once again this morning, all of us are at home… The family sleeping in due to the fact that school is out yet again. Today marks 4-1/2 SNOW days that we’ve experienced. Some roads are still reportedly impassable. Some people have yet to leave their homes since last week’s snow event.
Of course, it isn’t the snow alone… It’s the temperatures. Yesterday was the first day in over a week that we saw temperatures above freezing! It isn’t the AMOUNT of snow… but it’s resilience. We’re used to snow falling, then melting right away. We just aren’t accustomed to seeing snow hang around day after day.
And of course, the roads are shut down at a time when we as a church have been so poised to launch such a big, new phase of our ministry. On the big “SNOW Sunday” we had two services for the first time. Tonight we are set to relaunch youth ministry, but haven’t had the chance to actually invite students, due to school being out. This coming Sunday is our LifeGroup Connection, where we hope to connect people into community.
It seems like we’ve just picked the absolute worst time for just everything, doesn’t it? Did we miss it? Should we have done something different? Was our two-service schedule a mistake for this past week? Will our youth ministry kick off with a whimper instead of a roar?
You might not have known it on Sunday, but we had more first time visitors on our big snow day than we’ve had on any one Sunday in months! Not only that, but we presented the truth of God’s love and grace, and we saw one of those first time guests turn their life over to Christ for the first time! Praise God!
We may not have posted our best-ever numbers on Sunday morning, but ETERNITY was changed that day. So, if you’re all into sheer numbers, maybe you’re counting the wrong thing. Life change is what counts, and THAT is what God had planned for Sunday.
Maybe tonight at the youth ministry launch, we won’t have a ton of kids… But GOD will do the work that HE wants to do, DESPITE what our numbers show. Our plans are good, but God’s purpose will prevail!