GOD HAS A PLAN

God Has a Plan

By June Klins

Last month a priest said in his homily on the feast day of St. Therese that for a Christian, anything that happens cannot be considered “bad” because everything that happens to us is for our sanctification. It can also be used for the sanctification of someone else, too, when we offer it up. And it may even be for an earthly good. The following story, which was related to me by my friend Dean, illustrates this.

Dean and his family spend time every summer at the family farm owned by his late grandfather. It is a getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city life. This past summer, as Dean and his family were about to pull into the driveway of the farm, they saw a tractor pulled over near the end of the driveway. Apparently a wheel had fallen off the tractor. It looked as though the tractor had been hauling a load of manure, and that it had been dumped when the wheel had fallen off. A trailer had pulled off and they were working on the tractor’s wheel.

The next morning, Dean noticed that they had not picked up the load that fell off, and there was a huge pile of manure at the end of the driveway – not on the driveway, but off to the side of it. Dean was not a “happy camper.” It really irked Dean that there seemed to be no effort made to clean it up.

Later that day, Dean’s niece needed to go somewhere, so Dean’s mother volunteered to drive her where she needed to go. On the way back, Dean’s mother fell asleep at the wheel, and as she approached the driveway, she plowed into the pile of manure, which stopped the car and woke her up. Fortunately, she was not hurt. When the family came out to see what happened, they realized that if that pile of manure had not been there, Dean’s mother would have hit a tree, and may have been seriously injured or even killed. Dean also mentioned that she might have even hit one or more of the children who were out playing that day. Dean exclaimed, “Who ever thought I would be thanking God for a pile of manure?”

The obvious lesson is that God always knows what is best for us, and sometimes when things seem to not be going well, we need to trust in God, because in His infinite wisdom, He knows the end of the story. God has a plan. That “pile of manure” in our lives, might just be our saving grace!

A few months ago, after I had just read an article about the secrets and the chastisements that will be coming to the world, I opened my Bible at random to Chapter 6 of the Second Book of Maccabees. “…He never withdraws His mercy from us. Although He disciplines us with misfortunes, he does not abandon his own people. Let these words suffice for recalling this truth.” (2 Mac 6:16-17). The verses before that say, “Now I urge those who read this book not to be disheartened by these misfortunes, but to consider that these punishments were meant not for the ruin but for the correction of our nation. It is, in fact, a sign of great kindness to punish the impious promptly instead of letting them go for long. Thus, in dealing with other nations, the Sovereign Lord patiently waits until they reach the full measure of their sins before punishing them; but with us He has decided to deal differently, in order that he may not have to punish us later, when our sins have reached their fullness” (2 Mac 6:12-15).

On January 25, 1989, Our Lady said, “Pray that you may be open to everything that God does through you that in your life you may be enabled to give thanks to God and to rejoice over everything that He does…”

Editor’s note: If you are a new reader, the articles about the secrets and chastisements were in our September and October 2011 issues. They can be read online in our archives at
http://www.spiritofmedjugorje.org/