“You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” – Proverbs 19:21
A frustrated woman, that’s what I was one day not long ago as I tried diligently to wrap and fold neatly, a pack of crackers. Sounds like a simple task, right? Try it sometime, and really pay attention to what happens. I found a few interesting tidbits that day that I could relate to life.
A pack of crackers, first pulled out of the box, is a beautiful thing, especially for a mind like mine that craves order. The package is crisp and smooth. The crackers are lined up neatly in a row, no breaks or crumbs in sight. The seam opens smoothly and they are crisp in your mouth. Then comes the trouble… how to return the package to a decent-looking state without losing your mind.
Life is a lot like a pack of crackers! We always want things to be able to look like they did before they were touched and used. But no matter how much smoothing we do, the package never looks smooth and the seams start to tear outward. We try to keep the air from reaching the crackers while they’re stored, so we twist the large, empty end and do our best to make it hold that shape. We fold it different directions, trying to mold it to the remaining crackers in the pack, so that it can have the shape and size it needs to fit back in the box. We calmly coax it and pet it and gently lay it on its side. Then, POOF!! The package flips over from the pressure of the side we’d folded under, crackers break and we’re left again with a damaged pack of crackers that is exposed to the elements.
We could spend our time writing letters to the cracker companies, raging against the fact that they chose such an unyielding material for their cracker packaging. We could ask “Why?” a thousand times. It wouldn’t be a productive use of our time, however, because cracker companies have bigger things to worry with than answering our questions. Also, are we really that much of a cracker expert, that we should be questioning the decisions of people who research these things for a living? I’m sure they have a valid reason for the packaging they chose.
The fact that the cracker pack now looks this way is because it is being used for its intended purpose. Crackers are meant to be open, crumbled and eaten. To leave them pristine would mean that they are getting stale in the box or on a shelf.
Isn’t it the same way in our life? We rage against the fact that things cannot return to the way they were “before”. We coax and beg and twist every which way, in a futile attempt to make a “return to normal” happen. We think we have success, and then, POOF! Our lives are once again upended, and our pretty façade is destroyed. Then we rage against God, asking “Why?” a thousand times and questioning His plans and His sovereignty. We fail to see that we are being used for our intended purpose.
Today I am going to rest in this promise: “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” – Proverbs 19:21 Today I am going to trust that the Lord is more concerned with the inside than the packaging. Today I am going to leave my frustrations in the hands of the one who can change them into joy.
Dear Lord, be with me through the flips and breaks and tears in my life. Help me to see that I don’t need to be returned to an undamaged condition, because Your blood has made me pristine in Your sight. Thank You for the moments when I can recognize that the messiness simply means I’m being used by You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
Shelly Hendricks is a wife and mother of 2 amazing kids. They live the good life in South Louisiana. She is a writer for God’s glory. She depends on God for all strength and hopes to encourage others on this journey, through her writing and her books.
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