01/10/2026
Good evening Philemon family. Happy New Year and (Fresh Word) Friday! We hope that everyone had an awesome, amazing, and blessed week. The Philemonism for this week is a simple one. It’s been said that life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. Enter the coronavirus, life’s latest ‘happening’ that radically changed all our plans. One casualty for everyone might have been not being able to go away on vacation or changing the way their children attend school. You grieve what might have been and grapple with confusion, or outright fear, about the future. Naming and expressing those emotions is an important part of coming to terms with your experience. In the Bible, God’s people are honest in their expression of grief, doubt, fear, sorrow. But those expressions are always illuminated by words that turn us to the Lord – to His comfort, His assurance, His presence, His encouragement. Christ, the light of the world, helps us see our losses in the right perspective. Solomon’s words in Proverbs 16:9 caution us to hold our plans loosely, because they often do not unfold according to our expectations. God guides our steps, and he has the right to change our plans. This comforts me, because it reminds me that the Lord is not surprised by an out-of-control microbe. In fact, it’s actually part of His plan. When our plans are canceled, we might think that all of our preparation was for nothing, and that our time and thought and prayer about it was a waste. Not so! Even though things did not turn out as planned, God is faithful to use it all for our sanctification according to His wise plan. Whatever alternative God has for you for 2026 is not Plan B. He has something better for you that your plans could not accomplish. Having our paths redirected can be confusing (see Proverbs 20:24). But what an opportunity to really walk by faith! God asks us to trust Him. He doesn’t ask us to trust that things will work out according to our desires, but to trust Him – moment by moment, day by day, month by month, year by year. That’s why it’s called a walk of faith (2 Cor. 5:7). Our current situation gives us the opportunity to do just that, to walk with a known God into an unknown future. He is very much on His throne and in control. So as you go through the rest of this month and year, I challenge us to look for ways the Lord is bringing our steps in line with His plan. Continue to be safe, be blessed, be a blessing, stay prayed up, pray for one another, and live your life to its fullest by making everyday and every minute count. 😁🙏⛪️
