Spiritual Pathways || Phase 1 | Lesson Five

I'm not sure if any of you grew up with book fairs at the school, but in my little hometown we did. That was something we always look forward to. And one year I had saved up my money because I really wanted to buy this cookbook. And yes, I still have it. A Walt Disney Mickey Mouse cookbook. And one of the first things I decided I was going to make out of it is something called the Big Bad Wolf's Brownies. And you have to keep in mind that up until that point, I had only ever made brownies from a box mix. So follow the directions on the back. So making brownies from scratch was a bit different. I was so excited because the recipe showed that the brownies were going to have sprinkled powdered sugar on the end. And I was just ready for this most amazing dessert. And as I made the brownies, checked my recipe, they came out of the oven, sprinkled on the powdered sugar. I went to take my first bite and spit it out. It was disgusting. It tasted bitter. It tasted dry. And when I went back through the recipe, I realized I'd forgotten to put the sugar in there. And that was the first time I'd ever worked with unsweetened cocoa. And in my mind, cocoa was chocolate. Chocolate was sweet. I didn't even think about adding the sugar. But because I forgot that one ingredient, the whole pan was ruined. And my long-awaited dessert was not going to happen. But just like forgetting the sugar in that recipe didn't disqualify me from ever baking

again, the same is true in our life. That our mistakes, our less-than-stellar choices, our shortcomings don't disqualify us from having a relationship with Jesus and being able to walk forward in our faith with Him. In this series of lessons, we've been leaning into asking questions. And we all have them. And one of the questions that can be tempting for us to ask sometimes is, does God really have a plan? Because when we look around us, we see all the things, you know, the dominoes are dropping and the struggles are continuing. It can be tempting to ask the question, does God have a plan? But as we learn in this session, our shortcomings, our choices, our decisions do not get to change God's plan for the world. I logged on to a Zoom meeting early on in my recovery. And if you've been to Zoom meetings before, you kind of know what that feels like when you get on and it's the pre-meeting time and you're not really sure if you talk to each other or not. And a lot of times we shut our camera off if you're on one of those meetings so you don't have to look at each other. But at this meeting I was at, there was just one other guy on there and both of our cameras were on. And I sat there for just a second before I just felt like, OK, I got to say something. So his name was George and said he was living in Florida. And I just said, hey, hey, George, how are you doing today, man? And he looked at the thing and looked at me and said, hey, your name's Matt. And he said, you know, Matt, my days are pretty good when I can keep my head where my feet are. If I can keep my head where my feet are, most of my days are pretty good. And that statement on that meeting really landed with me because of how much that connected with me and why it was so hard for me to stay sober. Staying present where I was at was something that was a big battle for me. And so in this session we're unpacking, like, does God have a plan? Like, what is God's will for my life? Maybe you've asked that question.

Does God have a plan? Like, what is God's will for my life? They really kind of mean the same thing. And maybe you're asking that thing right now because you're in rehab or you're in treatment or you're in a place where you're you're having to do a lot of really hard work. And it feels like it would be so much easier a lot of times to just check out and go. Healing is not for the faint of heart. Healing is not for the weak minded. Healing is not for people that don't have the courage to keep showing up. And so right now you might be in a spot in treatment or wherever you are where it's like, I don't know if I can keep going, if I can keep doing this. God, what is your will for me? God, what is your plan for me? God's God's will for you. God's plan for you is the same as God's plan for me. His plan is for us to be present in the places that we're supposed to be. Like in this moment is the only place where we can connect with God and in in this moment when we connect with God is the only way that we can find pathway to healing and we can find a way to experience a different kind of life. Maybe you felt like this, you feel like that because of what you've been experienced to in church or what you've come to know is how God does things or doesn't do things, you feel like that God plays that shell game. with his will or God puts his plan underneath one of those those cups and then moves it around on the table really fast over and over and over again and then takes his hand off and it's like okay now guess which one is it and it's like oh my gosh I think I'm supposed to pick this one but I'm not sure but maybe it's that one. God doesn't sit in heaven and play the shell game with his plan for your life. God's will for you, God's plan for you is to be present in the places you're supposed to be. So wherever you are right now be in that moment. Keep your head where your feet are and let God start to do the healing

work in you and have the courage to keep stepping in. Romans 8 28 says that we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been a called according to their purpose. It's just like that that thing of that that Jody told about the baking. If you all the ingredients that's what God does that God uses all causes all things to work for the good of those. So the bad things, the hard things, the difficult things, the good things, the not so good things, all that stuff goes into this thing and it gets mixed and if you are if you will keep your head where your feet are, if you will stay in the moment be present in the place that you're supposed to be and trust that God's not playing the shell game with his will that healing can be found in this moment and God definitely definitely has a plan for you.