God Knows What He’s Doing

Way back in May, when I was first praying about whether God was calling me to go on this trip to Hungary, Jeana, Jacob, and I were sitting in a movie theater getting ready to watch Marvel’s latest blockbuster. Before the movie started, there was a commercial for AirBnb that focused on travel. When it was over, Jeana and I both looked at each other and laughed – it seemed clear that God was speaking through the screen to us. Here’s the narration from the commercial, entitled “The First Law of Travel.”

At home, it’s dangerously easy to assume we’re on top of things.
Out in the world, you are reminded every moment that you’re not and you can’t get to the bottom of things, either.

The secret point of travel is to take a plunge;
To venture into uncertainty, ambiguity, even fear.
And it’s then when you’re lost or uneasy or carried out of yourself that you find out who you are.

And the one thing that I have learned is that transformation comes when I’m not in charge.
And we’re reminded of the first law of travel and therefore of life.

You’re only as strong as your readiness to surrender.

“The First Law of Travel,” Pico Lyer

Now, this is one of those rare instances where secular thought uncovers a Christian reality. One of the reasons international mission trips are so enlightening and even fun for me is because they force me to realize I am not in control. That I’m not really “on top of things” as Mr. Lyer puts it. I’m a control freak and take pride in my ability to research, plan, organize, and be prepared for every situation so that everything goes how it should go. And I’m good at that when I’m at home surrounded by familiar things and people who speak the same language. But overseas mission trips require a flexibility, patience, and openness that I struggle with and so they stretch me in important ways.

There was a sentence that this particular team grabbed onto early on and repeated often during the trip: “God knows what He’s doing.” He knew what He was doing when He changed our destination to Ukraine. He knew what He was doing when He caused a couple of bags to only make half the trip. Over and over, when obstacles came up or plans changed, it was clear that God knew what He was doing.

God gave me a brain and an organized tactical mindset. He likes for me to put them to good use. But God also wants me to trust Him more than I trust my own intelligence. God wants me to be ready to throw out my plan in a moment if He leads me to go in a different direction. Mission trips are a great reminder that God’s thoughts are higher than mine, His ways are better than my ways, and He knows much more than I do (Isaiah 55:8-9). I can plan all I want, but I will miss out on so much if I am not ready to surrender. God knows what He is doing.

Paul says it this way in Romans 11:33-36:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

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