Devotions with Holly Woodbridge

God had Other Plans: A pondering via Holly Woodbridge

Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
    declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

If you have walked with Jesus for very long, you know this verse is true. God has a way of working out His purposes despite us. It seems even when we give our best efforts we still need Him to get us where we should be. Aren’t you thankful for our gracious God who leads us along. He is a good good Shepherd.

This  post on Facebook  from Greg Martin yesterday reminds us how very true this verse is….. you may want to grab a tissue.

“I’m on the side of the road crying...I have to tell you why.
Thursday I posted we’d be taking full skids of bottled water to Dallas, TX to help everyone without clean water after the winter storms this week. I invited you all to join me, and buy water. And holy cow, did y’all come through! So much so that we were scheduled to deliver 5 skids of water today, and then multiple follow-up deliveries shortly after. Probably 100 of you helped buy water...it was insane. I’m so grateful for all of you.
But that’s not why I’m crying.
Katie, Kevin, and I left at 5am yesterday morning to go to DRAW’s Jackson, MS campus. We picked up the 5 skids on the way, and left early this morning to deliver the water to World Vision’s warehouse in Dallas, TX. With the weight of the water in the trailer, we could tell the tires were struggling to hold, but we hoped for the best. A couple hours ago, about 90 min from Dallas, one of the trailer tires blew out. We pulled off immediately to figure what to do next.
But that’s not why I’m crying.
I walked into the gas station to ask if there was a tire shop close by. A patron at the gas station, a guy named Jack, asked what size the tires were. We walked to the trailer, he looked it over, and said he had two tires at his house we could have. He came back 10 minutes later, replaced two of the trailer tires, and fixed a piece of metal that was damaged when tire blew. We said thank you, and less than an hour after the tire blew, we were back on the road. I’ll never see Jack again, but he was a Good Samaritan today.
But that’s not why I’m crying.
Less than a mile after getting on the highway, another trailer tire popped. It turned out there was a hidden piece of metal that was rubbing the tire, one we couldn’t see before, and did it’s damage in less than 60 seconds. Dejected, we rolled off the very next exit, knowing it was nearly impossible to get the water to Dallas.
But that’s not why I’m crying.
I called the Dallas warehouse manager, explained the situation, and asked for any wisdom he might have. It seemed we were at a dead end. He said they had luckily gotten a half load of water an hour earlier, so they weren’t dependent on us. He said he’d make some calls.
Shortly after, he gave me Stacy’s name. Stacy oversees a ministry in Tyler, TX, about 25 min from where we were broken down. I called Stacy immediately, and asked if she might know of a few people who could pick up the water with their trucks/vans, and if she knew anyone who could use it.
Stacy paused, then said, “Wow”, slowly. She said that this morning, at their church service, they were having an intense prayer time. There is no one in the area with clean water, and they didn’t have anyone who had access to bottled water for a couple days. Their tiny church spent 10 minutes this morning praying that God would send a miracle, and provide for their community.
So a dozen trucks/vans from Tyler are heading our way now to pick up hundreds of cases of water. Stacy is overjoyed. I thought I knew where we were going today. Then God blew out our tire. We found someone to fix it, and he just went ahead and blew it out again.
Because we are right where we are supposed to be.
On the side of the road, crying.”​

So, just keep serving Jesus. He will handle the rest and make sure you are right where you are supposed to be. It might even be in Topeka, Kansas.