If we're being honest, we can all think of at least one time when things didn't go as we planned for them to. Maybe we planned on getting that promotion, making that team or being in a relationship by a certain age but for some reason, it didn't happen as we hoped. I'm a planner. I like to know what I'm doing, when it's happening and how it's going to get done. Sometimes it's helpful to think ahead, but I often catch myself trying to plan my own future and that's not my job. When I do that, I'm basically telling God that I know better than He does and I've got it. How dumb is that? But we never think about it in that way. Proverbs 19:21 tells us, "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
Did you catch that? As believers, it doesn't matter what our plans are if it is not aligned with God's will for us because HIS PLAN WILL PREVAIL. So every single thing that doesn't "go as planned" actually did go accord to the plan — just not your plan. Can you imagine what your life would be like if everything you ever planned actually occurred? Honestly, looking back, I'm glad that's not the case. I can see now how God redirected my life to a better path that I couldn't see. Do I still get discouraged when things don't go as I hoped they would? Sure. But I have comfort in knowing that it is for the better, because the God of the universe is uniquely guiding my life for His glory.
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So yeah, you didn't get your way and it hurts. I'm not discrediting that by any means. But have you thought about why things happened the way they did? Maybe that friendship fell through because God is going to put someone else in your life that needs you to minister to them. Maybe He didn't allow you to make that team because He has even better things ahead for you. You can't see it now, so you just have to trust in Him. Romans 8:28 says, "For we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." He will work it out for your good, and that's a promise. He will teach you things along the way and though the road may be bumpier than the path you would've chosen, the final destination will be so much greater.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11
My prayer is that we fully surrender out lives to Him to the point that our plans will be to trust in His plans. It's time we stop worrying about what didn't go as planned and let our all-knowing God plan it for us. I promise the outcome will always be better.
