God Had Other Plans

By Andrew McChesney

As she finished high school, Jo-Anna Clayton devised a plan for college.

For the first year, she would enroll in a community college near home in the U.S. state of West Virginia.

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This way she could take basic classes at reduced tuition costs and stay with her parents and three younger sisters. After that, she would transfer to a Seventh-day Adventist school to study nursing.

But the plan collapsed during the summer. She just couldn’t find a way to get to the community college from her parents’ rural home. Jo-Anna couldn’t obtain a driver’s license because her parents, natives of Jamaica, were sorting out the family’s U.S. residency papers. Her parents couldn’t drive her back and forth, and no public buses stopped near her home.

Soon, only a month remained before the start of the school year, and she had nowhere to study.

Then her mother, Suzanne, remembered that family friends worked at Weimar Institute in California. Jo-Anna immediately went online and did some research.

“I don’t want to go to California!” she told her mother. “That’s too far away”.

“You should at least think about it and pray about it”, her mother replied.

Later that day, she did pray. “Please don’t make me go to California”, she said. “If I have to go to California, let one of my friends come with me”.

A week later, Jo-Anna spoke with a Weimar recruiter and began to think that maybe God wanted her to study there. But a major barrier stood ahead: Her parents could only cover the down payment and the first three months of classes.

Then a series of unexpected events rapidly unfolded.

Jo-Anna applied for and received a scholarship. While assisting people affected by local flooding, she connected with several Adventist physicians who pledged $500 a month toward her tuition. She raised $1,800 by writing financial assistance letters to family friends. Soon she had enough money to enroll, and she started classes in the fall.

“I didn’t have any doubt that I was where God wanted me to be”, she said.

While she missed her family dreadfully for the first few months, the realization that she was at the center of God’s will energized her as she worked 25 hours a week to earn more tuition money.

Jo-Anna, now 19, completed her first year debt-free, and she said God still pays her bills.

“I work like crazy, and when I do what I can, I say again, ‘Lord, this is what I can provide. Now show me what You can to do,” she said. “He works it out for me”.

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Further Thought: Many have suffered as a result of their addictions. They have become slaves to their desires and have lost their money, their job, their health, and their freedom. But Jesus came to give us the freedom from our sin and from all our addictions, and “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36, NKJV).

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Jesus also promised that He would always be with us (Matt. 28:20, Isa. 43:2); so, we do not have to wage this war alone. In fact, we must remember that the battle is the Lord’s (1 Sam. 17:47), and He promises victory (1 Pet. 1:3-9). Today you can begin on the road to victory over any addiction and receive the freedom you desire and what God wants for you. This doesn’t mean you won’t struggle, and it doesn’t mean that, at times, you might even fail. But the good news is that as long as you don’t give up on the Lord, He won’t give up on you. And yes, there’s nothing wrong with seeking professional help, too. Just as the Lord can use a medical professional to help you with health problems, He can use a professional counselor to help with addiction, as well.

“When difficulties and trials surround us, we should flee to God, and confidently expect help from Him who is mighty to save and strong to deliver. We must ask for God’s blessing if we would receive it. Prayer is a duty and a necessity; but do we not neglect praise? Should we not oftener render thanksgiving to the Giver of all our blessings? We need to cultivate gratitude. We should frequently contemplate and recount the mercies of God, and laud and glorify His holy name, even when we are passing through sorrow and affliction”. – Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, p. 268.

Discussion Questions:

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You can view an in-depth discussion of “Times of Loss” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. You may download an MP4 video file, and audio file or a PDF lesson outline from the HopeSS site.

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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1. Times of loss.  This week we turn the page on happy memories of family life to consider some of the losses we endure in our families. Today we must admit that not one of us has lived a life free from the scourges of sin. Thousands of years have gone by, but we still think even of life in the Garden of Eden as a bucolic  existence torn apart by the foolish sins of our distant relatives. The first loss, our lesson points out, was the loss of innocence. Unless you’ve lost every visage of honesty, you know where that loss has led you in your life. Let’s shore up our courage  and consider some of the consequences of loss due to sin in our human lives.
2. Loss of health.  What agony it is to  observe the consequences of injury and disease in the lives of those we love–not to mention  our own suffering. The lesson frames for us  stories  by the gospel writers about Christians seeking relief from the pain of disease.  Consider each of these  as family members of yours and reflect on how God’s  love was made manifest in them.
   Mark 5:22–24, 35-43. “My little daughter”
   Matthew  15:22-28. “My daughter…demon possessed.”
   Luke 4: 38-19 “My wife’s mother”
   John 4:46 “a nobleman with a sick son”
3.  Loss of trust. Have you ever eliminated a sense of trust in a family member because you could sense trouble ahead? What is the caution our lesson’s leader shares about some of the dangers of breaking trust?  But what about the consequences of adultery in a once-Christian home? Can the fracture of a marital relationship ever be forgiven? If you said, “Yes,” explain under what circumstances? And with what cautions? How hard is it to endure the pain of a broken marriage?  Can a Christian forgive a marriage partner but not to resume the relationship?  How should we reach out to those injured by a fractured marriage?  
4. Family violence.  Every now and then an account of abuse by a family member in the church surfaces. Children, for example, who were beaten severely by a father who claimed to be a Christian tell their stories, many of them with a bitterness that does not go away. We also read horrible stories in the press about outright abuse and parent-inflicted suffering  on innocent children. And an occasional account surfaces of teenagers or adult children engaged in cruel behavior towards family members. Of course we know that God does not approve, but what can you and I do when we learn of such treatment of marriage partners and children in our church?  Or should we just look the other way?
5. Loss of freedom.  This section of the week’s lesson deals with bondage to addictive substances and, yes, behavior. “People,” said Peter, “are slaves of whatever controls them.” Examples of controlling substances shared by our lesson this week include the following: “Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography, sex, even food.”  Getting a habit with any of these items and letting them control us until we no longer control them can cause serious consequences to any of us. What is the greatest and most serious consequence of addiction to such substances? Can God restore freedom to us if we get caught pursuing addictions? How? 
6. Loss of life. We worry about someone who loses a close family member to death and doesn’t seem to feel any sorrow at all. Far more likely is the deep concern by many of us responding to the death of a parent, husband, wife, child, sibling, or dear friend.  What are some ways we can share comfort and support for family or friends who are going through the pain of bereavement? What about the sorrow of losing a child to death? We don’t pray for God to raise up the dead and restore him or her to life, do we?  What do you think we should pray for?  How often do you think about the grand resurrection when Jesus comes again? Are you ready to help Him welcome His loved ones to a life of eternal joy and peace through eternity?

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As human beings, we know the reality of death. We read about it, we see it, and we maybe have even come close to facing it ourselves.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:26. How is death described, and why is it described this way?

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Who, having lost a loved one, doesn’t experience for themselves just how great an enemy death is? On the other hand, the dead have it “good”. If, in the Lord, they close their eyes and in what seems like an instant to them, they are raised to immortality. “To the believer, death is but a small matter … To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory”. – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 787.

No, it’s the living, especially the remaining friends or family members, who know the real pain and grief following a death. The fact is that grief is a natural, normal response to loss. It is the emotional suffering we experience when something or someone we love is taken away.

The grieving process is not the same for everyone, but in general most people go through several stages. The first and most common reaction to the death of a loved one is shock and denial, even when the death is expected. Shock is your emotional protection from being too suddenly overwhelmed by the loss, and it may last from two to three months. You may also go through a time when you are constantly absorbed by thoughts of your loved one, even during common, daily tasks. Often conversations turn to your loss or loved one. This period may last from six months to a year.

The stage of despair and depression is a long period of grief, probably the most painful and protracted stage for the griever, during which you gradually come to terms with the reality of your loss. During this stage, you may experience a range of emotions, such as anger, guilt, regret, sadness, and anxiety. The goal of grieving is not to eliminate all your pain or the memories of your loss. In the final stage of recovery, you begin to have a renewed interest in daily activities and to function normally from day to day.

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