A Good Day for a Funeral

Today is a good day for a funeral. Let me explain why.

I am a five-year-plan kind of girl. I set goals, map out a path, pray for God’s blessing, and get moving. Each new phase of life presents an opportunity to make a fresh plan.

After high school, I set my sights on my degree, then marriage, motherhood, and owning a home. I took the steps necessary to get where I wanted to go. Delays and detours frustrated me. I prayed a little more and worked a lot harder.

As I look toward the future, visions of what my tomorrows could look like fill my head. I toss my ideas up to heaven and ask God to put His divine spin on them. I dream up the best case scenario and wait for God to grant my wish like a genie in a bottle.

Galatians 2:20 makes it clear that we are to die to ourselves: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” That bad thing I want to do? Die to self and do the right thing. When given the choice to serve me or serve another? Die to self and choose to serve.

But what if dying to self also means dying to the life I thought I would live? What if it means releasing the plans we have for ourselves in exchange for the life God wants for us?

Paul, the author of Galatians, exchanges the self-centered, pride-stroking life he planned for himself for a life of faith in the Son of God. He dies to self each day. He does the right thing and chooses to serve. In doing so, Paul trusts God minute by minute, day by day, to build his future.

God asks me to trust him with the plans he has for my life. He asks me to die to myself in this moment, but he also asks me to let go of the future.

[Tweet “Our lives may not turn out the way we hope if God grants our every wish.”]

Our lives may not turn out the way we hope if God grants our every wish. When the plans for our future are concocted by our finite minds, they are limited and lacking. However, if we give our futures over to the Lord with no preconceived ideas, he dreams the best dreams for us.

Dying to self includes dying to the self in your five-year plan. Say goodbye to self, goodbye to prideful plans, and goodbye to a mediocre future. Today is a good day for a funeral, don’t you think?

Kelly Smith is a small town girl who married a small town man 17 years ago. She has three energetic blessings, ages 1 to 11. Her favorite indulgences are coffee, reading, writing, and running. Kelly believes we are created for community and loves to find ways to connect with other women who are walking in the shadow of the cross. She blogs at mrsdisciple.com.