I have absolutely no idea! I don’t believe any of us can make plans and be certain they are going to go through.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14
In May 2010 Chuck and I began living in Tala, Kenya and it really threw me through a loop. Not that we didn’t have a choice…God gave us the choice and we said “yes” to Him. But I wonder if I ever really understood or counted the cost fully of that decision? Can we ever really know the cost? I wonder when Mary said “I am the Lord’s servant,” “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38) Did she fully understand the ridicule she’d face being an unwed, pregnant teenager? Or the position Joseph would be in finding her pregnant? I don’t know but I believe that Mary, being human and finite, probably couldn’t completely grasp the entirety of her situation and plans and purpose of an infinite God.
Can any of us really do any differently? Sure I thought about what it would be like living here in Tala, tried to imagine what would happen and plans I could make. But after being here these 8 months, I realize my “counting the cost” was not adequate or even accurate. God has a much better view of what’s happening than I do and my responsibility is to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and trust that, yes God knows what He’s doing.
Do I know what’s in store for 2011? Nope but God does and that’s where my trust and faith will continue to be.