When I went to college, my plan was to major in music and play basketball. I was determined to prove that a musician could also be an athlete. My eighteen-year old passions turned into what I believed was a perfect plan for college and beyond, but a month into my freshman year, I fell awkwardly while dribbling the ball down the court. All I remember was screaming out because of excruciating knee pain. The injury resulted in two surgeries, months of physical therapy, and the quick but devastating resolution that contact sports were over for me.
I put all my hope in the fact that I could still play piano, and so I still had my place in the music program. This part of my plan could not be thwarted, I believed. But the knee surgeries meant weeks on crutches, and I was greeted with a major ice storm the first week back on campus. The complication of carrying books on crutches, getting down the stairs from my dorm, and maneuvering on ice left me angry and frustrated. So, I just stopped attending my music classes.
Within one month, I lost my place in the program. I remember standing in the back of our campus chapel, and through tears of confusion and anger I promised myself I would not touch a piano again. My perfect plan had seemingly slipped through my fingers, and for the first time in my young life, I had no idea what I was going to do.
Make Plans with God Not for God
That certainly wasnāt the last time in my life I struggled to understand what it looks like to trust the Lord with my plans. Admittedly, I love to plan well in advance; the nerdy part of me enjoys a clearly organized, color-coded calendar filled out well into the future. And making plans is good to do! Proverbs 24:27 is just one place that affirms this: āPrepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.ā
The problem is not in being prepared with future plans; the problem is the way we sometimes go about making these plans as believers in Jesus. As a scheduling aficionado, I am regularly reminded of how often I make plans for God instead of with God. James speaks into the heart of our plan making when he says in chapter 4, āCome now, you who say, āToday or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profitā -yet you do not know what tomorrow will bringā¦Instead you ought to say, āIf the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.āā
The point is not to tag on to our already made plans, āif the Lord wills,ā but to seek His will as we make our plans. Oh, how often I forget to do this! Too frequently we make decisions in haste without first prayerfully considering and listening to what the Lord would have us do. Jesus promises to give us wisdom when we ask (James 1), and He gives it generously. As believers, we should not look identical to the unbelieving world – our lives should be markedly different – and that includes the way in which we go about making decisions regarding the future. If we plan to āgo here and thereā and do āsuch and suchā without seeking the Lordās guidance, our demeanor is one of arrogance rather than reliance on a loving and sovereign God.
Know that the Lordās Plans will Prevail
And after we prayerfully consider what the Lord would have us do, we move forward with our plans while trusting in Godās sovereignty as the path unfolds. No one considered Covid when making spring plans last fall. So, even decisions made with the Lordās guidance may change drastically from our perspective. We donāt ultimately know what tomorrow holds. But the comfort is in knowing that while we may be surprised about twists and turns, the Lord is not. Proverbs 19 says, āMany are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.ā Or, as The Message translates, āWe humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but Godās purpose prevails.ā
And the beauty in this for believers is that we donāt have to despair in unexpected changes. The Lord doesnāt ask us to slap smiles on our faces when weāre frustrated by altered plans, but our God wants us to trust in the story He is unfolding. There are no random twists, only paths the Lord has chosen for our good (Romans 8:28). So, when graduations are canceled or family trips are postponed, we can move forward in Godās grace knowing that we are following a leader who loves measurelessly and who listens to our cries for understanding without reproach (James 1:5).
In college, I ended up majoring in English for one simple reason: it was easier for me than other subjects. That major led me to my first job as a high-school writing teacher, which led me to pursue writing, a passion I didnāt even know existed until it was awakened in me. And while I was certain that being a music major was the only way I could find a job in music world, I am now the worship director at our church, and I am so grateful to be able to play piano on a regular basis. God is good. Godās purposes prevail.
We donāt always have these glimpses of understanding into what God is doing when plans change. But like a beautiful stained-glass window that tells a story from beginning to end, when weāre up close, we only see disconnected chards of glass. As we grow in our faith, weāre able to take steps back to see a little clearer the individual pieces and how they are fitting together. One day, the picture will be revealed in its entirety and it will be breathtaking; there will not be one piece you will want to move or change. The story of your life, though it cannot now be seen in full, is already perfect. It cannot be skewed or twisted because the Lord has planned it, and His plans always prevail.
