Weather in the upper midwest changes constantly.  You cannot count on it — or the local meteorologists — to get it quite right.  Our precious summer plans can be changed at a moment’s notice causing strife and stress in our household. Stuck inside again….drat!

I choose to look at times like these differently.  One of my favorite songs is by a band called “Casting Crowns.”  Their hit song, Praise You In This Storm, is a poignant look at how God is there with us even in the challenges and problems of life.  I’ve had my share of pain and problems, regrets and dilemmas, good decisions and bad.  Clearly no one is perfect.  And I’ve never claimed to be.  I struggle often with regret….especially looking back over some of the choices I’ve made or the situations I’ve gotten into.

Songs like Praise You In This Storm and intense prayer time (my conversations with God) have helped with regret.  I know that even in those tough times, God was there with me.  Holding my hand.  Walking with me.  Raising me up.  It’s these trying times that I truly believe that He is with me.

Many people are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11 where God tells us “I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  But not everyone reads the verses after it.  The Israelites were held captive in Babylon for 70 years.  Seriously bad situation.  God promised that he would come back for them, however it was critical that they followed up with prayer:

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Our plans are not necessarily God’s plans.  In fact, He often changes the plans we make.  And, surprisingly, we are surprised.  Well, we shouldn’t be.  I’ve learned with prayer to be adaptable…to  “go with the flow”…to let stuff slide.  It’s not easy, but it’s way better than the alternative.