With the new year coming up, most people are making New Years resolutions and plans for the year. That isn't a bad thing to do, but life does not always happen exactly the way we plan. If you're anything like me, then that is not okay. At all. I like things to go exactly according to my plan. But I have recently begun to learn that my plans aren't always the best, no matter how good they seem. Sometimes, it can be a really good thing for our plans to get interrupted. We don't always know what is best for us. Sometimes we need God to intervene and show us there is something better out there.
Like I said, I am a planner. When I was applying to colleges last year, I thought I had everything figured out. I was going to attend Emerson College in Boston and major in creative writing. I was going to leave behind my southern roots, become a full fledged city girl, and not look back. I wanted to become the next Sarah Dessen or Ellen Hopkins and take the literary world by storm. But that is not what ended up happening. God had a completely different plan for me. I prayed for scholarship money to attend Emerson, but instead I got scholarship money to attend Roanoke College. At the time, I was extremely disappointed, but I sent in the deposit for Roanoke anyway. I wasn't exactly happy about it, but I knew that was where God was directing me to go. So I took a leap of faith and went for it. Looking back, even though it has only been a few months, it was the best decision I could have made. I am still a creative writing major, because that is what I believe God is calling me to do. But I know He wants me to be more than just a writer. I'm still waiting on Him to reveal that part of His plan though.
Until then, I have given up on trying to plan the rest of my life. God already planned out everything for us. Who are we to mess with His story for our lives? He knows what He is doing.
"For I know what I have planned for you," says the Lord. "I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope." Jeremiah 29:11 NET
I don't know how it could get any clearer than that. Whatever He has planned is better than anything we could come up with for ourselves.
It isn't the end of the world when life doesn't follow our best laid out plans. He has such an amazing plan for our lives and He wants us to fulfill it, but we don't always see what He is doing. He steps in and uses unexpected events to get our attention. So, instead of panicking when everything doesn't go exactly as planned, turn to God. He could be trying to direct you to something better than you could ever imagine.
