"He IS Lord."

The football game is tense. The teams face off at the line and the quarterback looks at the defense's deployment realizing that they're onto the next play. What does he do? He 'calls an audible,' changing the play at the last minute. It can be a great choice or a disaster. If all of his players don't hear the call, the play may fall apart, but if the offense comes together, the ball will advance! A great QB knows when to change the play and it makes the winning difference. Last minute change of plans can be a sign of instability or it may reveal a person who is adaptable and aware of quickly shifting situations that demand a different response than the one that was worked out in advance.

• Are you humble enough to recognize when your life plan isn't working?
• Are you willing to change course, to adapt, or even to abandon a choice that you've made which isn't producing the results you want?
• Most importantly, if our Great QB, Christ Jesus, calls an audible for your life, will you respond with faith and obedience?

Pastor Craig Barnes calls these shifts - "The Theology of 'Plan B.'" He writes, "The Bible is filled with people who had to go to Plan B. Abraham's plan A was to have a child with Hagar. Maybe he and Sarah even prayed about this strategy for helping God fulfill His promises. Moses' plan A was to kill an Egyptian slave master, and that plan didn't work so well. John, the Baptist, had a plan A to prepare people for the judgment. Peter's Plan A was to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. Paul's plan A was to preach to the Jewish people... and all of them had to go to plan B." - Leadership, Winter 2005

Hindsight is, as we say, 20/20! We look at the Bible's characters and wonder, "how could they have missed the will of God so widely?" Because they were human and they made plans - just like we do; plans that seemed right in the moment, but which weren't God's plan. What distinguishes these people isn't that they lived perfectly in the center of God's will, but that they were willing to change course when they discovered that He was leading them in another direction!

It would be wonderful to think that every decision we make is the right one the first time around! Who wouldn't like to know that their choices today are perfectly aligned with God's purposes and plans? But we make mistakes. Our biases and prejudices get in the way of hearing the Spirit's voice, and sometimes we choose wrongly. Then, too, some choices just 'seem so obvious' that we fail to pray about them in a meaningful way, we fail to get counsel from trusted people before we set sail.

Sometimes situations develop we simply could not have anticipated and which God doesn't reveal to us in advance-- a job loss, the collapse of our good health, a spouse that takes his affection elsewhere, a unplanned pregnancy -- that call for real trust and deep faith! In those times, we need to set aside the sense of panic that is oh so natural and let the Spirit of God call an audible! I don't know about you, but in my life the hardest prayer to pray from my heart goes something like this: "Lord, you lead, I'll follow. I don't see the way clearly right now; I can't understand, at least in this moment, what purpose could possibly be served by this change of plans, but I'm listening." Why is that hard to pray? For me, it isn't pride so much as it is fear. I like to feel like life's under control, manageable, and unfolding according to plan. But, in my heart, I know that there is no security in my wisdom and plans, but there is eternal security in His purposes, so humbly I must relinquish my need to be 'in control,' to see the future; so that I can follow His call.

He is Lord! Do you really believe that today?
If He calls an audible, will you respond with a ready "Speak, Lord, I'm listening?" or will you take a time-out to protest His call?

Here's a word from the Word to take with you through the day-

... But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ...What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ...Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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. Romans 8:24-40 NIV
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"Sovereign Lord, Eternal God,
I wait on You today - and pray that you will help me to have a patient faith.
Plan "B" frightens me, messes up my playbook, and even makes me look unstable, but...
you are Lord! I want to follow you closely, to be obedient, and to live honorably.
So, speak and I'll listen.
If the roar of the crowd and the busy-ness of my life causes me to miss Your call,
Lord, please be mercifully patient, and speak more loudly.
I am Your servant, my life offered to You, to be spent at Your pleasure.
Amen."