I have some confessions, and they aren't pretty. In fact, they're so selfish that I am ashamed to write them.
1. I hate when things don't go my way. I especially hate when I have a plan and things don't go the way I expect or want them to go. Maybe you struggle with this, too. I know I can't be the only one.
2. When life doesn't go the way I plan, I struggle with trusting God. I know I should trust Him, but all of my insides tell me that I need to be in control. My heart and my head start playing tug-of-war with my intestines, and you know who wins? Not me. every. single. time.
Over the past few years, I've had some practice in letting go of the plans I have for my life and trust God's plan, even when I don't understand why or what or how. I've been stretched and pulled in ways I didn't know possible, and have learned some valuable lessons through it all that I want to share them with you: What To Do When God's Plan Doesn't Look Like Yours.
- GIVE IT ALL OVER TO GOD. God wants to take our entire burden, every last bit of it. He wants the crushing weight of worry, anxiety, stress, you name it - He wants to take it from us and carry it so we don't have bear the load anymore. I've noticed that after prayerfully asking God to carry our load, we say "amen" and pick that mess right back up again. I like to make one trip inside with all the groceries. I load myself down with bag after bag until I'm practically balancing the milk on my nose. My husband opens the door, throws out his arms, and says, "here, let me take that from you!" God's not the one abandoning us, forcing us to carry it all ourselves. We're the ones clutching 500-pounds of grocery bags when He's there ready with open arms, begging us to give Him our burdens. Instead of saying "Yes, God! Thank you!", we're the bullheaded ones who carry the weight all on our own and then we have the guts to yell at God, "Where were you when I needed you? Why didn't you take this from me?" We can only be mad at ourselves.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
- TELL GOD HOW YOU FEEL. When your mind is reeling and your heart is hurting, it's okay to cry out to God. It's also okay to be frustrated, upset, angry, and sad. Know this - God can take it. Many times we get mad at God because awful things happen to wonderful people, and that's something we can't quite wrap our heads around. This anger and frustration eats away at our trust in God, and can even lead to doubts about God's goodness. Let me tell you about a very wealthy man in the Bible named Job, who loved God with all his heart and believed in God's plan for his life, no matter what. Satan sees Job's faithfulness to God and wants to challenge him so he will dishonor God. Satan tells God that Job will turn his back on God if he no longer has the rich, wonderful life God has given him, but God knows Job's heart and He allows Satan to ruin Job's life. Satan kills Job's children, sends his fortune into ruin, and even inflicts Job with boils and lesions all over his body. Rumors start swirling around Job's circle of friends, with people making assumptions that Job must have committed a terrible sin. Job's reputation is ruined. We see throughout the book of Job how this broken, suffering man cries out to God. In his frustration Job says, "I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me." He feels lonely and abandoned by God who he loves so deeply, and he's hurt. It's okay to come to God with everything you feel, even when it's yucky. And you know what the best part is? God is always listening to us, even when it feels like He's a million miles away.
Psalm 18:6 - "In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears."
- KEEP TRUSTING GOD. God wants us to trust Him completely, even when we don't understand. I don't do the whole "trust" thing very well. Have you ever seen those "trust fall" exercises where a person falls back with their eyes closed and trusts the person standing behind to catch them? Well, you can believe that the one doing the falling would NOT be me. I can be trusted to catch others, but I don't trust others to catch me. I want to go back to Job for just a minute. In the middle of his despair, Job let his friends convince him that he'd done something terrible to cause this suffering. Job examined every inch of his life, wondering what sin he'd committed to deserve this severe punishment. God came to Job, talked to him about how people cannot understand God's ways, and then God blessed Job with DOUBLE what he'd had before because Job passed Satan's test. Job came to God, even when he was lonely, frustrated, and sad. Job didn't turn his back on God, nor did he blame Him, even when he had nothing left. Job trusted God through the pain and the suffering and the loss, even when he didn't understand.
Isaiah 55:8 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
- REMEMBER THAT GOD'S PLAN IS GOOD. God's plan is exactly what He wants for our life, and His plan is perfect. Nobody said that trusting God would be comfortable or easy, especially for someone like me. I'll put it to you like this: no one's ever said that I'm a "go with the flow" kind of girl. Nope. I'm a person who loves to make a plan and be in control, because then I know exactly what's going on at all times. No surprises here! But one day the lightbulb came on and I realized that it's actually not about me. Or my plan. God has something greater in store, something so much better than I ever could have imagined. When I don't trust God with the plan He has for my life, it really means that I am showing Him that I can't be trusted to do what He has in store for me. Ouch. God has made all of us for a special purpose, one that He has planned just for us, and when we trust Him, we show that we are ready to receive the blessings He has for our lives.
Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
My dad died suddenly on November 26, 2014, the day before Thanksgiving. I can tell you everything I did that day, from what I had for breakfast to where I was standing when I found out he was gone. There are days you wish you could forget, and for me, that day is burned into my brain like a cattle brand on the hind-end of a steer. Through all of the sadness, I had a really hard time understanding God's purpose and plan for my life. After Dad died, I learned that his favorite Bible verse was Romans 8:28, which says:
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
Notice it says nothing about our own purpose for ourselves - nope. The focus here is solely on God's purpose for our lives. Often times God's plan makes absolutely no sense to us, and we have to remember that God will use ALL things for good- even our most difficult and painful moments. I don't pretend to know why everything happens - I can't even begin to guess. Honestly, it's not for me to know, it's for me to accept and to trust. I do know this: that defining moment of losing my father helped led me to where I am right now, sharing what God has done and encouraging you to stay strong in your faith.
All of this is because of God's grace and mercy and love that He pours over us no matter how poorly we trust Him, or how frustrated we become when things don't go our way, or how tightly we hold onto our personal baggage.
The same God who created the ocean and the stars and the sunshine created YOU.
God has a wonderful and unbelievably beautiful plan for your life. He has a purpose just for you.
Trust Him.
