God’s Plan for Success Doesn’t Always Mirror Our Own
I have certainly lived long enough to know the truth in the saying… “If you want to make God laugh, tell him what you have planned.” Whenever we plan anything involving others, there is the guarantee something in the plan will change. Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to work as an event planner, performing arts director in the church, and now as a workshop developer and facilitator.
Footprints in the Sand
Recently I launched a heavily researched, well-developed and well-planned creative writing through Bible study workshop called Seven Biblical Women. Even with a complete marketing approach to include a brochure with registration information, community and web advertising, footwork and good old-fashioned word of mouth campaign, the attendance did not meet the expectations.
I anguished for weeks over the number of people who loved the workshop idea, seemed impressed with the marketing but did not register. My biggest concern was the target audience -Christians and those involved in any genre of writing, who took lightly to registering in advance for a new untested workshop. These are my colleagues, peers and friends.
When the launch date finally approached, I made the decision to go forth with the workshop knowing I would have to make strategic changes in the program on the fly, based on the number of registrants and warm bodies in attendance. My own plan as I envisioned the success of the workshop was falling apart. That morning as I was getting dressed I prayed and asked God to give me an anointing… telling him that the workshop was to his glory, not my own; it was not about me, it was about him.
I arrived at the workshop site 15 minutes early (7:45 am) and sat in my car 35 minutes before someone arrived to unlock the doors. During this period of waiting, I became overwhelmed with the anxiety of not being able to start on time, since I had equipment to set-up and test. Further, there were refreshments on the way that also required attention. At the advertised start time of 9:00 am, four people had arrived. A feeling of dismay was about to overtake me when I suddenly heard the sound of laughter and many voices. Warm bodies were beginning to arrive.
The workshop began behind schedule however; of the few people sitting before me, I saw nothing but eager, smiling faces. In my head, I said… “Here we go Lord.”
What a Joyous Day
The workshop introduction and presentation of biblical cultural history flowed without a glitch, and fostered lots of questions. In the original plan, the workshop required a minimum of 21 people. The pre-registration number topped out at 14, and by the end of the morning session, the number of attendees dwindled to nine. Talk about thinking on your feet! At this point, we were supposed to be in seven discussion groups of three people each, so I took a vote and we agreed to forego the group discussions and work together collectively. We read aloud, asked questions, and inserted thoughts, ideas and summaries of the material that opened up a floodgate of expression. This turned out to be exactly what I was trying to achieve in the original planning of the workshop. The interaction was much more than I imagined.
As a result, I put on my performer’s face and read a powerful monologue for the Samaritan Woman. The Spirit of the Lord moved through every person in the room. By the time I completed the reading, everyone was up on their feet cheering, praising, and giving thanks; not to me but to Jesus. We then engaged in an interactive question and answer game filled with so much fun and laughter, we all had tears of joy. The workshop closed with a reading of the prayer For Knowledge of God’s Creation from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Afterwards, we hugged and danced in praise.
Here are the testimonials:
From an email received the following morning…
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Hope this finds you well rested today from the very successful debut of the Seven Biblical Women workshop ministry. It was a blessing to be a part of how God has prepared you to be a blessing to others and empower them through the written word.”
From the attendee evaluations…
“One of the best workshops I’ve ever experienced.”
“Excellent visuals, professionally done.”
“Beautiful – Excellent!”
“The instruction was good – good intervention”
“Fun”
“Yes, I would recommend this workshop to others, including my church.”
“Most definitely plan to use the workbook for further Bible study.”
“The game show…That was awesome, a lot of fun!”
“This workshop helped me to appreciate more being a woman and a daughter of the Heavenly Father.”
God had a plan already in place for the success of this workshop…you see, the original vision came from him. He entrusted me with this work and allowed me to develop it, as I am sure he watched over me closely. He was not about to let his work fail. He also gave me the assurance that my planning was not flawed, it only needed a little tweak to give me the confidence I needed to continue in this ministry.
I am encouraged. This experience has shown me that we sometimes loose faith, and when we do, we must put our trust in him. Through the anxiety, I carried prior to the launch of the workshop, perhaps God laughed, not at me, but with me. He lifted me, and all who participated in a wonderful time of new knowledge, new techniques, new friends and most of all Christian fellowship. To God Be the Glory!
© 2009 Sharon Moore Stenhouse – All Rights Reserved
