The Frago
In the military they call it a “frago”. When the plans you thought you had are “fractured”, and a quick change is required. They’ll even intentionally create Fragos for their soldiers-in-training to be sure they are able to shift and adjust quickly. The trainers will allow no plan or mission to take precedent over obeying the command at hand. A good soldier will be able to shift their focus on a dime — a good commander will be able to lead through the unexpected shifts in plans. And that is exactly what Steve and i have just experienced in our personal lives.
We were working through the steps of a carefully layed out plan to travel from Georgia to Minnesota to Japan (to meet our precious new grand daughter), then back to Minnesota (to participate in an amazing ministry work) and then finally return back home to GA. But a frago came out of the blue. The night before we were to fly to Japan, our required covid test results came — I was covid negative, Steve was covid positive (asymptomatic)… we were completely stunned. We cried. We felt completely overwhelmed. All the planning and the excitement and the travel plans were frozen. Sitting in silence, we just began to pray. And I remembered that when we had gone to get the tests, I had prayed out loud over us, that God would open wide the door or gently close the door — and the test results would show His answer. We always pray in this way. We have learned the value of laying every move in His hands and not wrestling with Him over His guidance. It took us years to learn that solid, surrendering truth. He knows the way we should go. Always.
As we prayed together and Steve’s shoulders shook over the disappointment he felt — the words came cleanly into focus, “Lord, we remember that we asked You to make Your perfect plans unfold in front of our eyes. To open or close doors according to Your good plans. And we open our eyes now to see that You have answered our prayers. We did not expect this. We do not actually want this. But we know that You are good and You know what is best. We choose You. We don’t have to like this — but obedience is what we choose. So please help us. Guide us. And help Peter and Francesca in this great disappointment. Pour all Your good care over them and flood them with the knowing that they are dearly loved by You and by us.”
We sat in perfect silence for several minutes as we let the surrender settle in. It might not sound ominous to others. But for us, it was a hard turn. We ached to meet our new grand daughter, and to sit beside our son Peter and daughter Francesca. We longed to be in their world and breathe air beside them again. It was a hard frago for us.
But when we trust God and have faith that He is good and He is always “working everything together for good for those who love Him and are called to His purposes” — then fragos can’t be the focus — FAITH must be the focus. It’s in those moments when the rubber meets the road and either our faith is real and holds us in place, or our faith is false and we slide into the ditch.
It’s not easy. But it is beautifully right. To choose faith is like breathing clean mountain air. it doesn’t make sense to our human logic, but it makes perfect sense to our spirit-fed-soul. The next few steps determine the trajectory of the outcome.
We let ourselves be honest over the disappointment.
Faith does not require us to fake it.
We let ourselves cry over the loss.
Faith allows our feelings to be felt.
We shared with each other.
Faith loves to encourage.
We acknowledged our feelings but we did not let our feelings control or guide us. (That one sentence has taken me YEARS to learn!!) So let me say it again…
We acknowledged our feelings but we do not allow our feelings to control or guide us.
That sentence is the essence of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was acknowledging His feelings to the Father, but Christ did not allow His human feelings to control or guide His flesh. He chose what was higher. And we can do the same — we can choose what is higher, what is honoring to God, what is proof of faith and defeating of fear. It’s a narrow path — but if Jesus lives inside us — it’s possible.
For most of my life i have done a horrible job of managing my emotions. I’ve wanted to. I’ve prayed for God to help me overcome emotional responses. More often than not, I’ve failed. Those who know me best know this is true. Oh but i have been held back in this classroom of learning and my Teacher has been so patient. I’ve been kept after class so many times while the rest of the students were released. It’s been a hard lesson for me to learn — but a kind Teacher has stayed behind with me. I know how the crook of the Good Shepherd’s arm feels, holding His slow-learning-lamb.
Steve and I prayed ourselves to sleep that night.
The next morning Steve said, “As we check out and drive south back home to Georgia, let’s drive east instead and at least see a Great Lake. We’ve never seen any of the Great Lakes, let’s drive slow and breathe.” Fragos can become blessings.
They might never measure up to what we thought the original plan was to be, but they can become a different blessing. And perhaps the first plan is not gone forever, perhaps it’s just delayed. Perhaps the Shepherd wants to add something in first. Maybe He wants to grow our trust in Him, give us something else, and then deliver the desire of our heart — just a bit later.
God is worshipped when we choose obedience.
God is worshipped when we surrender to His plan.
God is worshipped when we lay ourselves down and lift Him up.
Fragos in life are never easy. But they are faith-feeders and obedience-trainers WHEN they come from the hand of the Father. So we drove east. And as I looked at the gps map, I said, “Ya’ know Steve, we’ve never seen Niagara Falls either. And it’s just around these Great Lakes. It’s just up there in the top western corner of New York… wanna go see a water fall with me?” He smiled. So often after surrender —vafter tears — a rainbow can appear. So often the MORE from our Father is found after the splintering break of a frago. And we kept driving east.
Next week my friends — I’ll begin sharing what our Father showed me at the falls. Oh how clearly He spoke to my soul.
