Lori

Brown, Ed.D

A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. (

Proverbs 16:9 Close Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans,  but the LORD determines our steps. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

NKJV)

I moved during my state’s mandated season of quarantine for COVID-19, and let me just say, it was intense, stressful, and not without challenges. One morning, after getting settled in, I stepped onto my new tile kitchen floor and went crashing to the ground. I was in a puddle of water. The washer (improperly installed) flooded a significant portion of two rooms in my new abode, leaving destruction in its path.

I felt anger, shock, and pain. My crushed knee and throbbing chin were telling me that I needed to attend to my physical injuries, but the puddle drenching my clothes reminded me that my house was flooded. For a few moments, all I could do was sit and cry.

Nothing was going as planned in this weird season of life and I was far from happy. You ever “been there, done that?”

Perhaps you know what I am talking about. COVID-19 radically changed all our plans. From canceled weddings and graduations to forced unemployment and serious illness, many of us have stood before our God, families, and mirrors asking, “What is going on? This isn’t what I planned.” And as Proverbs reminds us, we can make lots of plans, only to have God deliver a radically different pathway.

When our plans get tossed aside for seasons of greater hardship or difficulty, the immediate human response is often one of anger, frustration, and avoidance. We see that with Job. When his impressive life of wealth, health, and achievement came crashing down in destruction. Job cried out:

"I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes." (

Job 3:26 Close Job 3:26 I have no peace, no quietness.  I have no rest; only trouble comes." OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

NKJV).

As I sat in my flooded house feeling pain and seeing dollar signs, I felt like Job. Nothing in my head or heart was at rest, but before long, I had to pick myself up and return to the promises of the Word. If we identify as children of the King and are people who know the Scriptures intimately, then we are called to embrace, with joy, destroyed personal plans for God’s higher purposes.

From Genesis to Revelation, God has repeatedly done some of his best work in messed up plans. Mary and Joseph did not plan to give birth to the Savior in a barn; Sarah and Abraham did not plan to have a child at 90, and Paul didn’t plan to spend his retirement years facing torture in a Roman jail. But look at what God did through the lives of these people, and how he blessed through hardship.

The richness of the Bible is that we can sit down and literally go chapter by chapter, book by book, highlighting repeated examples of people who found themselves facing frustrated plans. Some of the stories are brutal, harsh, and painful, but oh, how God did some amazing things from lives that were literally ripped apart and pieced back together with a new plan.

If you’re weary and heartbroken today over the manner in which your life plans blew up before you could even formulate action steps, then know this: You’re not alone, and messed up plans are often a sign that God is preparing to do something you’ve never imagined. So, be patient and trust God’s timing in your strange new plans, as he has a purpose for pain, procrastination, and pitfalls. Trust Him and let Him work. He has this!

Copyright © 2020 Dr. Lori Brown, used with permission.

“Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.”

1 Samuel 12:21 Close 1 Samuel 12:21 Don't go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

(NIV)

Life sure is different today, is it not? Perhaps like me, you’re sick of home quarantine and depressing news. You’ve heard as much about the Coronavirus as you can handle and you can’t process any more depression, doom, and gloom. It’s as if the whole world changed in the blink of an eye, and many are asking, “So where is God in the midst of this crisis?”

As a professing Christian believer who has a respectable understanding of God’s truth, I confess I don’t really know where God is. So, do I think God’s gone on vacation or suddenly decided He doesn’t love us and needs to remain hands-off? Absolutely not! But do I understand why God is allowing this situation to continue and worsen? No, I frankly don’t.

But my lack of understanding of some of the what’s and why’s of this global crisis does not, nor should it ever, lead to the conclusion that God doesn’t care or is unaware.

How do I know this? Because of the Old Testament. I love reading the Old Testament, largely because it seems to be filled with story after story of God’s people getting really ticked off at God’s timing and doing something sinful (let’s just say I can relate!).

The Israelites wanted out of Egypt long before they reached the 400-year mark of Egyptian bondage. Sarah wanted a child before God chose to bless her and Abraham with a son, and a united Israel wanted a human king in place of their Godly king, so God gave them Saul, a willing but challenged soul.

In their impatience, God’s people often created idols to find something or someone to worship as they were very upset at God’s apparent silence. In

, we see Micah losing his mind when the tribe of Dan stole his man-made idols. They took the objects in which he had placed his hope.

In the OT, God’s people often grew impatient, moaned and groaned about circumstances, and all but gave God an ultimatum: “Act now or I’m choosing a better God!” And each time, God just shook his head in disbelief but continued to love His people until it was time to rescue them from themselves.

What we learn from the Old Testament stories is that trying to rush God and/or pretending to know more than God (e.g. assuming God needs to rescue us from circumstances instead of assuming God needs us to walk through the circumstances), is always going to be a lost cause.

Friends, I don’t understand God’s current timing or will with the virus. But the one thing I know to be true from Scripture is that God never forgets us, He always rescues, and He holds us even in our rebellion and unrest. He is our source of safety and security, and maybe that’s one lesson to be learned now.

In recent days, I’ve returned to the 23^rd Psalm to remind myself that God holds our hands and walks side by side with us through the valley of the shadow of death. When I can’t understand his timing or purpose, I can always understand and trust his character. Our God is a compassionate God who hurts as much as we hurt. Run to Him. Trust his timing, and never forget that He has never left his people, even in seasons of rebellion. He will sustain us because He loves.

Copyright © Lori Brown, Ed.D., used with permission.

Along with a few million other folks around the globe, I started the new year with a resolution to lose weight. This was going to be the year that I wasn’t embarrassed on the beach. And so far, I’ve hung in there well, but not without lots of struggles and challenges.

Key to my focus has been joining the gym. Dare I even say that I’m enjoying working out? Music has been helpful, as it tends to pump me up for rigorous workouts. On a particularly cold, wintry day, I hopped on an elliptical with my headphones to listen to favorite show tunes. I was beyond excited when a song from Aida came blasting through my headphones. It took me back to wonderful memories of seeing the musical on Broadway. Consequently, I got so caught up in the moment that I started singing along. The only problem was that I didn’t realize that I was singing “aloud.” As the song reached a climatic high and I belted out the words with pride, I suddenly realized that three gentlemen on nearby weights were looking at me strangely.

Yep, I was serenading those around me, and in a key that sounded anything but “Broadway-like.” Heavy sigh. Here I was feeling so pumped about my workout, only to have my joy crushed by the embarrassment of drawing attention to self.

In that moment,

(NIV) came to mind:

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

The prior year had brought lots of brokenness and a crushed spirit, as it had been filled with an unexpected job lay-off and other hurts. My weight loss journey similarly made me brokenhearted at times, as I reflected on the struggle of resisting donuts and pushing myself to move when I only wanted to sleep. My life’s journey had, at times, broken me. 

Have you ever been in a season which felt like there was more brokenness than beauty or more sadness than serenity? Have you ever felt super pumped up about what God is doing in your life, only to find yourself crashing the next day when the unexpected brings hurt, grief, or shame? Maybe you even hurt today because others have hurt you and you’ve forgotten what joy feels like.

When I’m hurt, broken, or sad, the last thing I want to do is to praise God. Instead, I want to hide under the covers, or, in the case of the gym, run into the dressing room to get eyes and ears away from my off-key show tunes. But God’s Word tells us that hiding isn’t an option, unless we’re hiding in His arms.

Instead of running, God says, “Come.” Instead of fleeing, God says “Have faith.” Instead of focusing on the pain, God says, “Get pumped up about what I’m doing in this season to prepare you for the next chapter.” In short, God reminds us to adopt a Psalm 75 kind of attitude in our most broken or difficult seasons so that we remain pumped about who He is and what He’s going to do, even when nothing seems clear or right.  

"We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds."

Psalms 75:1 Close Psalms 75:1 We thank you, O God!  We give thanks because you are near.  People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

(NIV)

Whatever challenges you face this week, remember to stay pumped in the pain by praising His name. Remember that your God is bigger than your grief and His heart is bigger than your hurts. He cares!

Copyright © January 2019, Dr. Lori Brown, used with permission.

I recently sat on the back pew for a Sunday morning worship service. While that may not sound earth-shattering, it was quite the paradigm shift, as I’m usually on the first row of the church choir. But on this particular day, I slipped into church at the last minute and became the stereotypical "back row Baptist."

It only took a few minutes of sitting on the back pew to realize I was not enjoying myself. I felt isolated, hidden, and quite removed from the actual worship experience. Singing the great hymns of the faith wasn't a lot of fun, as my fellow back-row believers didn't want to sing. As I looked around I noticed many folks seemed disengaged from the act of worship.

The longer I sat there observing distracted, sad-faced worshippers, the more frustrated I became. I wanted to interrupt the sermon and yell out, “Hey, pay attention, people. We are here to worship – not clean the pews with our coattails.” But as I mentally completed my Oscar-worthy “holier than thou” spiritual speech, God quietly and patiently whispered in my ear, “But Lori, you’ve made me a back-seat God for a while now, so how can you criticize the very thing of which you are guilty?”

Ouch. Reality hit hard as the words of Matthew came flooding into my heart:

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (

Matthew 6:33 Close Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God* above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

NIV)

Sitting on that back pew, I had to admit I hadn’t been seeking very much of Him in recent days. My time in the Word and prayer was hit or miss, I wasn’t actively serving in a church ministry outside of choir, and couldn’t remember the last time I shared the Gospel with a non-believer. I was guilty of turning into a back-row believer; a believer in name only who chose to avoid a meaningful and purposeful relationship with my Lord.

Perhaps, like me, you realize you have settled too deeply into a back-row relationship with Jesus. Intimacy with Him is just a thing of the past and the ministries of the church mean very little to you, as church attendance is more an after-thought than a priority. Maybe your back-row relationship has led to less tithing, fewer Bible studies, and a diminishing passion for the Savior. If that’s the case, don’t despair. There’s room for change.

The good news for back-row believers like myself is we serve a God who understands. In

(NLT), He says to the wayward believers in the nation of Israel:

“The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me. Even an ox knows its owner and a donkey recognizes its master’s care – but Israel doesn’t know its master.”

This verse reminds us that God grieves when we walk away. But, he knows his people are sinful and may yield to the temptation to become back-row believers who forget the one who gives purpose and passion to life. Yet, God loves you as much as he loved the Israelites and he’s not giving up on you. He loves you too much to let you wander in the wilderness for a long season.

Wherever you are this day in your walk with the Lord, remember that there is hope for change. God wants you to grow with him, and he will patiently guide you to deeper levels of intimacy if you’re willing to be led. So, make it a goal this week to start slipping off that back-row seat and inch a little closer to the front, telling God and your church that you’re ready to grow and serve. Let’s all make an effort to move from back-row believer to front row faithful for a stronger impact on the kingdom.