God’s Plans Are Bigger Than Our Plans

The other night, my wife and I hosted a Bible discussion and dinner night at our home. We serve with EFCA ReachGlobal in a country where it can be risky for someone to explore Christianity. Because of this, we are quite sensitive in our relationships and are continually praying for God to open doors. As part of our ministry, every month we invite over friends who have voiced an interest in engaging in spiritual conversations.

Joining us this particular evening was a local Christian family, plus three other families from an ethnic group considered “unreached” with the gospel. What stood out most was how one of the unreached families engaged with the Bible and questions about who God is. We were encouraged by their humility and hunger.

After the evening, we considered how best to follow up on the conversation. Our decision was to go out to dinner and just get to know them better, and bring them a Bible as a gift.

This is a distillation of the texts as we set up that meeting:

Me: Hi, would your family be interested in dinner sometime next week?

Friend: Good evening. Thanks for the invitation, but I would like to invite your family and the others for lunch at my place on Sunday. If it’s OK with you, please bring the Bibles with you so we can discuss at my place.

And then later…

Friend: Please don’t forget to bring the Bibles.

Friend: Please find a nice topic from the Bible for discussion at my place.

​Sometimes we make plans. And then sometimes God makes bigger plans. My heart is full in anticipation of what He is up to.