Pentecost: More Than We Can Plan

From the day they are born and even before they are born, we are busy making plans for our children. Some of our planning is about the really big things, like the name they will carry or finding the college that will help them fulfill their dreams.

Students at Beechmont Presbyterian’s Learning Hub take a break with some soccer.

Some of our planning is much smaller, like what will they wear on their first day of school? What is there time to make for dinner? The truth is, whether it is about something big or small, our lives are consumed with making plans for our children.

But we aren’t the only ones. No matter how much time we spend making plans, doing our very best for our children every day, we can never truly know what God’s plan is for them. Or us.

I think it is very possible, in fact I believe with my whole heart, I trust with my whole heart — that God is planning so much more than we can ever imagine. As it states in Jeremiah 29, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord … to give you a future with hope.”

Yes, hope.

Delegation from St. Paul Presbyterian Church in San Angelo, Texas, to the 2016 Presbyterian Youth Triennium

Our plans need to include helping our young people build a life grounded in faith that will last a lifetime and will allow them to come to know the God of hopeful futures. To inspire them to share their faith, ideas and unique gifts with the church and the world, and in so doing, bring hope to others.

At Pentecost, we celebrate that God offers more than we can plan. Our gifts to the Pentecost Offering connect with God’s hope and the future by supporting ministries with children, youth and young adults by building a life of faith. Through the Young Adult Volunteer program; Presbyterian Youth and Triennium office; the Educate a Child, Transform the World initiative; as well as locally supported programs, we join in ministries that connect young people with one another and with caring communities helping them shape a life and a future beyond even the one we could plan.

Please give generously, because when we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.

Let us pray

Let us hear your plan, God of peace. May your hope find willing hands and hearts as we tend the youngest among us, building a life of faith. Amen.