Melissa Michaels
About the Author

Melissa Michaels is the NY Times Bestselling author of Love The Home You Have and The Inspired Room book. Her blog, The Inspired Room, was voted Better Homes & Gardens Readers' Favorite decorating blog in 2014 and 2015. Melissa is a church planter's wife and a mom to three human kids and...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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Comments

  1. Melissa, God is specifically speaking to my heart in this area, particularly as it relates to hospitality. Thank you for words that confirm what my heart is already hearing.

  2. Melissa, thanks so much for sharing this. I feel God is always interrupting “my plans” and I need to remind myself that “His plans” and “His to do list” is much greater than what I can ever imagine. I am always praying for eyes to see what God wants me to do instead of my own narrow focus.

  3. Melissa,
    Like Michele, this really speaks to my heart! I am a planner and I like to set the course for my day. God, however, is teaching me more and more to not just “go with the flow”, but to go with HIS flow. I love the line, “He asks me to let go of my plans so I can show up to His.” Amen. Too often I measure my days by what I got accomplished. I too often neglect that accomplishments in God’s economy may mean, setting aside my tasks to listen to someone who needs a listening ear, to drop everything and rescue a stranded friend with a flat tire, to be present in a conversation, to stop, be still, and notice the hummingbird at the hibiscus. Yes, I need a little “divine spontaneity” 🙂 Thanks for a much needed reminder! Wonderful post!
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

  4. Yes, I am so stubborn sometimes and have even gone as far as to say “God wants me to slow down, focus on writing.” Yet, His Spirit convicted me that I was contradicting what He was saying…that my saying No to serving was selfish in this case. Thanks for explaining our needs to control and my refusal to be controlled as a lack of surrender. There’s peace there, when we go with the flow of surrender.

    • Oh yes, I have said similar things, too! Learning to let go has been hard, but you are right, there is peace when we do! It is actually comforting that He can be trusted and we don’t have to create boundary lines or designate the situations for when, how or where He can use us.

  5. SO encouraging. I find this so hard sometimes. I’m such a planner and organizer…it’s hard to have things “upset” my plan or my day…but I know there’s bigger blessings when I’m flexible and obedient. Thank you SO much for this today!! it was perfect timing.

  6. Wow! This message was definitely written by God through you to get to me! I am a stay-at- home homeschooling mom of 7, ages 18(she just left for college on August 11!) through age 2 1/2. I like/need a schedule and routine and I too measure the “success” of my day by how much has been accomplished, how clean the house is, and dinner on the way! Just this morning a woman from my church asked if she could come by TODAY to talk about home schooling and curriculum ideas. I almost said “no, not today, too busy” but after reading your post I asked her if she was free right after lunch! I really feel that God wants me to let go of the tight grip I have on time and follow His leading.
    Thank you so very much! Grace and peace to you!
    Kristy

    • Oh, I’m so glad this resonated with you today, Kristy! I’m right there with you learning to say YES with open hands in obedience and surrender instead of an automatic NO out of personal convenience or a desire for control….it’s a process, isn’t it?

  7. Thank you for sharing this! I’m really needing this right now. I’m needing to give up my will of being well for God’s Will of allowing a chronic illness. And so the work piles up while I have my husband and children come first as I trust in God. God provides peace in the journey as we follow His plan not mine! Amen and amen!

  8. Melissa, what a beautiful post. What I took from your words (well, one thing) is that there are times God asks us to let go of our plans, and it’s downright inconvenient. But, God. He gives us what we need when He asks us to be there for others. When He gives us the opportunity to be Jesus with skin on to those around us. Strength. Grace. The ability to forgive. And more.

    Loved your post!

  9. Melissa: What a TIMELY message sent straight to my heart this morning. Your penned words seemed to have lifted the rug under which I was creatively “hiding stuff” that I wanted to deal with MY way. Small wonder that my plans don’t always yield the best results.
    I so THANK YOU for your follow through to be obedient to God’s Call to share what He’s placed upon your heart … Words that could have only come from Him.
    You’re a Blessing!

  10. Yep I was supposed to go to a very prestigious work conference this evening and a church friend wants me to go to a support group meeting at church. I was crushed bc I haven’t been around my colleagues for years of family stuff and God is like I need you here. I’m not going to say I’m not disappointed especially bc church ppl can be extremely fussy and difficult at times and turning down lots of money for small town living is hard for me but I know I have to ‘die daily’. Doesn’t mean it’s easy leaving the good for best. In the end my allocades can’t wipe my tears away so I will just have to make the sacrifice

  11. Miss Melissa,

    I have recently been working on this one… I find myself thinking that it would be easier to start the clean up process earlier (and earlier) and then there would be less later. But, I noticed how many moments of fellowship and memories I’d be trading for an empty sink and clean laundry basket. It would be silly to wash every fork as it touched the sink or each sock thrown into an empty basket… but, that’s where I start going. God has shown me recently that everything I (actually) need to do is already on the schedual, His schedual; and His timing is perfect. He knows and He listens to the needs AND wants. What a gracious God we serve! Thank you so much for these words of encouragement and love today. I know they have comforted me and brought me inspiration. I pray you and your family have a blessed day!

    This side of Heaven,
    Summer Rae

  12. “I pray God can open my eyes a little wider to see what is unseen, make my stubborn heart a little more sensitive to His concerns, and make my weary feet arrive where He wants them to be.” Thank you, Melissa, for giving me this prayer I can pray, too!

  13. Thank you SO much Melissa for your word, which I just read; ‘when a word that stings deep, slips through to my heart, I pray I can model God’s grace & forgiveness’. Please pray with me regards the wound left. I thank God I didn’t react, or retaliate, or say something hurtful back, or act foolishly – I know it is the grace of God working in my life & His maturing me enough to ‘let go & let God’. Thank you so much, for writing the words, by His guidance, that I so needed to read at this time. God bless you!

  14. Melissa,

    Encouraging & timely post. “He asks us to LET GO of OUR PLANS and SHOW UP to HIS. “This quote has been lived out in my life. God asked me to quit my full-time, good paying job & be more available for my aging dad. My plan was to find a part-time job quickly. I said my plans. God had other plans. In the first two weeks I put my dad on hospice. We had a roller coaster ride of medical issues over 21 months. There were good days & bad. This past March 15 he went to be with Jesus. I don’t regret the time I spent with him. God is soo good that He supplied me with a good part-time job last October with a local company. It allowed me to work & visit dad. This proves that God’s plans are better than ours. It coincides with Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you & not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope & a future”.

    Blessings 🙂

  15. I find it harder to let go of my plans for productivity and show up at His plan for quiet. My life in this fast-paced culture is challenging. Since I can sit in my car and travel between 35 – 70 mph instead of 4 mph while ambling along on a horse or in wagon (or walking even slower), I can fit much more into my day. And while I’m tooling along down the road or highway, I have to give priority attention to my driving for the safety of myself and others instead of letting my mind wander off to what Jesus said to me this morning and talking with Him about how that’s going to look in my life today. So my plans more often need to be let go so that I can let Him minister to me instead of me thinking I’m ministering to someone else with an empty reservoir.