I’ve grown up in church. This means I’ve heard the phrase “God is good” about as many times as I’ve sat down at my family’s dinner table. Same goes for that classic Jeremiah 29:11 verse, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.”

So here’s the thing. I’ve sat in church services or across tables at coffee shops with wise people, listening to these familiar phrases over and over. I never really questioned it; after all, God promises that these words are true. I didn’t doubt it… until I did.

See, I hit a point this past summer in which my entire world, everything I had built up to be true, suddenly crashed to rubble around me. I was left detachedly wondering if this loving Father I learned about for so many years was really so loving after all. Because this is the real kicker.

When my life got incredibly different and flipped around, I could hardly bring myself to trust that God’s plans were “good.” If He was so “good,” why was everything going downhill?

Maybe you’re a little like me. Maybe you’re a dreamer and a wishful thinker. Maybe you plan your life with all these wonderful mountain-top moments. You can so clearly see God and His goodness in those moments and dreams.

But can you still see His plan when those dreams are crushed? I didn’t.

What about when God calls you to leave you a place you love?

When a family member or friend passes from this world, leaving you to somehow go on without them?

How about when the person you thought was your forever abandons you? Or you don’t get that perfect job?

There are infinite imperfect scenarios. But…I, for one, am in love with a perfect God (and my hope is that you are or will be too). And I know my perfect God will provide, even when my life’s gone off track. I know this because He promised in Romans 8:29 that “we know in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I know it’s far easier said than done to rest in the truth of this verse. I’m nearly 20 years old, and I don’t know the plan for the next year of my life, let alone the next 10. Because if my life was going according to my plan, I would be set to graduate in exactly 2 years, I would have my own cute little apartment, be in a great relationship, and settled in a future job.

Guess what? NONE of those are where I’m at right now. And that’s okay. It’s actually more than okay, because I know I’m following GOD’S plan for my life right now. It’s scary, but I know that God is preparing me now for a time in life when some of those dreams will be true.

And you know what? Where I am right now is more than amazing in its own way. And I can guarantee the same goes for you. Because my God doesn’t leave me high and dry. He covers me with blessings and grace, even in the waiting.

Even when it’s not the plan I want.

Life is hard, especially when your plans are falling apart. That’s when we have to force ourselves to cling to Jesus, and beg that HIS will be done. Not ours. I know it’s not easy, but He gives us new chances every day to revel in his mercy when we believe.

Religious or not, “everything happens for a reason” is the mantra of so many people. We may not know WHY everything is happening the way it is, but we do know WHO is behind it. And God will never leave us hanging. Take a look around you. At the world, how it stays alive and everything around us continues growing and breathing. That’s the Creator’s love. He’ll provide when you follow in the footsteps of His plan. You’ll see.