It’s so easy to think of your life as a plan outlined on a sheet of paper. After Roman Numeral I, you follow sub-headings A, B, C and the minor details a, b, and c that fall underneath. But then things happen in life –things that are totally unexpected and unplanned. Your outline rips or gets stepped on and suddenly there are gaps in your life plan or it just altogether no longer exists. Where do you go from there? You no longer have a plan to follow and you’re left with unannounced and very unwelcome surprises in your life.
By living a life planned by you, you are taking the reins from someone that has an even better plan for your life. By taking things into your own hands, surprises seem like boulders in your path. However, when you view each day as an adventure carefully planned out by your Guide, nothing leaves you in shock.
Instead of staring into the day that is ahead of you and attempting to program it according to your will, be attentive to God and all that He has prepared for you. Thank God for this day of life, recognizing that it is a precious and unrepeatable gift. Trust that He is with you each moment, even when it feels like you’ve been left on an abandoned road. A thankful, trusting attitude helps you see events in your life from God’s perspective, not your own, and this changes everything completely. You see a roadblock, but God sees it as saving you from the end of a road that leads to a cliff.
When you live a life close to God, your life will never be a dull, predictable plan. You will have to expect daily surprises, but not ones that are meant to harm you. Resisting the tendency to search for the easiest route through the day is the way God intends you to live your life. He wants you to be willing to follow wherever He leads. Even if the path ahead seems treacherous and uncertain, the safest place to be is by His side.
Even on your worst day, it is still a day that the Lord has made and placed in your life.
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. -Psalm 118:24
You were called to follow in Christ’s footsteps, not a blind path planned out by you.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. - 1 Peter 2:21