How many times have we looked up to the heavens with a
pouty countenance and asked, “Ok, God. That didn't work out so now
what?” I’ve asked that question at least a million times and I’m sure I’ll ask
it a million more. When we’re young and lacking inhibitions, the world is our
oyster. We think we know exactly what we want and how we’re going to get there, but as life plays itself out, we find out that
as much as we thought we were on our way to dotting the “i’s” and crossing
the “t’s” of our plans, we weren’t even close to having a sharpened pencil to
write with. Frustrating isn’t it? I think what makes it most frustrating is
that we have to begrudgingly accept that we really don’t have control over what
transpires in our lives. Try as we might, we can’t possibly ensure that
everything we want to accomplish will turn out the way we planned. It’s
especially tough to turn over the wheel to God and allow Him to do the
steering. Unfortunately, I’m a painfully stubborn daughter and still learning
this lesson the hard way!
For just about every facet of my life, I have a checklist
to reference and an internal GPS programmed with a final destination. I hate that unexpected
“recalculating” moment (Except when it’s an Allstate commercial with Mayhem,
then it’s just funny). If I do have to
take an alternate path, I become very overwhelmed and begin to have
feelings of anxiety because I can’t control what’s happening. Most recently, I
had my first ever panic attack over selling our house and trying to buy another
one. Once I pulled myself together and stopped feeling like a putz for not
handling the situation better (I’m sure it was a pathetic sight to behold), I
had to begin the process of reevaluating my plan and trying to better understand what was my purpose for it in the first place. Besides letting go of my white knuckle grip and allowing God to take over, one of the things I learned about myself through
this particular situation is that I was definitely not designed to be under
stress. Some people can handle it beautifully with such grace and fortitude. I
was not blessed with nerves of steel, and I’m at peace with that. I just need
to do a better job at communicating my feelings when I’m feeling anxious. Bottling it up only made me look certifiably crazy!
So what do we do when our plans go awry? The best place to
turn is scripture. I think it’s safe to say that one of the most popular
scripture passages regarding this subject is Jeremiah 29:11 “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." It's a passage that covers a broad spectrum as it is applicable
to every single area of our lives. We always think that we know better than Him
and are quick to forget that He is the God of the Universe…He knows everything
about everything for goodness sake! We aren’t supposed to know how our plans
are going to turn out. If we did, we wouldn’t need faith in God and that is
certainly not a part of His plan. He wants us to depend on Him for all of our
needs. Sometimes we struggle with having unequivocal trust in God’s will
because our faith in Him just isn’t strong enough, but think of it like this...Just as our muscles get stronger when we
workout, the more we place our faith in God, the stronger our faith will be.
A moment ago I mentioned reevaluating my plan. When things
don’t go according to the way we expect them to, we should dissect every detail
about that plan. I think the most important place to start is looking at the
intended purpose of our plan, whatever it may be. Was it something that I
needed or that I wanted? Was it something that would bring me closer to God or
lead me astray? Was it something to help others or was it to help myself? I
find more often than not that when I have a selfish intent, things don’t go my
way. It’s God’s way of humbling me and keeping me rooted in His plans. God sees
the bigger picture, and I often times find it difficult to focus in on what He
is preparing for me amidst all the craziness that speeds this life along. In the case of selling/buying a house, I don’t
believe that I am being selfish over material possessions, but I do believe
that I was being selfish by thinking that I could do this all on my own without
completely relying on Him. In my heart, I prayed about this plan and kept my
focus on His will for me, but my head was secretly holding on to a false hope
that everything would work out the way I wanted it to. Now that I
have gained some clarity (sometimes you have to freak your freak to get there),
I have even more confidence in God’s plan for me and my family. I still feel
stress and a little anxiety from having to keep the house immaculately tidy, but that comes with the
territory of selling a home. Overall, I actually have peace whether we sell our
home now or at some other time.
The Rolling Stones got it right in these lyrics:
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need
What we want isn’t necessarily aligned with His plans for us to prosper (spiritually, emotionally, financially), and keeping our faith
firm in Him can help us tremendously when our plans get flushed down the
toilet. It’s a good thing that we don’t always get what we want because at the
end of that season, we may not end up being as happy as we thought we would be.
If you don’t get that house, or land that job, or get that raise, or receive
the answers you were hoping for, don’t fret. It just means that God is working
on something even better for you. Don’t look at it as being an unanswered
prayer. No answer is an answer. Trust in His love and His plan, and while you’re
at it, buckle up and try to enjoy all the “recalculating”. Sometimes the scenic
route ends up being a much better adventure anyway.
“The mind of man plans
his way, but the Lord directs His steps.”- Proverbs 16:9
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