I was wondering what to write my next blog about when I saw a picture that got me thinking. It was a drawing of a person walking on a straight path that read “My Plan”. Underneath that was a drawing of a person walking along a path that was full of all sorts of obstacles, from pits, thorns and storm clouds. It read “God’s Plan”.  Though seemingly simple, I couldn’t help but thinking how true this actually is. When things start to happen that aren’t in our plan, how many times do we find ourselves saying, “Why did God let this happen to me?” or “Why are things always so hard?” It’s easy to forget that God knows our needs better than ourselves. He has a divine plan for all of us.

So, we’ve all done something similar to this. You break a mirror and are convinced that you will now have seven years of bad luck. (This actually happened to me recently, and I’m not going to lie, I was a little on edge afterwards!) Or perhaps you spilled the salt, walked underneath a ladder, or a black cat crossed your path. Whatever superstitions we believe in, they are just that…superstitions. There is absolutely no validity to them. They are simply ways that we can justify the bad things that happen to us. Everything is going wrong so there must be a reason. The reason, however, is not some sort of karma that has been cast upon you. The reason is that we live in a world full of sin and evil. No matter how hard we try to avoid disaster or how good of a life we try to live, at some point in our lives bad things will happen.

The perfect example of this is the story of Job from the Old Testament. For those who may be unfamiliar with the story, here’s a summary. Job was a good and righteous man who loved God. He was blessed with many things. He had a successful career as a farmer. He had a beautiful family with many children. He was truly blessed by God. However, he was put through the ultimate trial when Satan decided to test how truly devoted he was to God. God allowed Satan to test Job, and in a very short time, his animals, all of his children and family and his home were all taken away from him. EVERY LAST ONE. He was then made to be terribly sick. Throughout all of these trials he remained faithful and continued to praise God, even when his friends kept asking him, “What did you do wrong to deserve this?”. They all thought that he must have done something wrong to deserve all of this punishment. But that wasn’t true at all. You see, Job knew that the only way he would make it through such pain was to remain faithful to God. Amidst all his pain and heartache he still praised God!

One of my new favorite songs is called “Hallelujah Anyway” by the band Rend Collective. The lyrics provide a powerful testimony to the darkness that we all face. There is a link to the YouTube video at the end of this blog. I encourage you to listen to the song’s powerful message. Through all of our trials, the easiest thing to do is to get angry at God or denounce Him. We may even feel as though God has deserted us. In fact, this is why so many Christians fall away from their faith. When we are going through our deepest darkest days, it is so easy to fall into despair and hopelessness. That is exactly what the devil wants us to do. He wants us to turn away from God because then he can take control of our lives. It is in these deep, dark moments of our lives that we need God the most. These are the times that we should be crying out to Him in praise and prayer.

So what can we do when we are feeling defeated? When we feel like there is no hope, how can we praise God? I will share with you an exercise that I have been practicing for a while now that really helps calm my spirits when I am feeling helpless, defeated, scared and anxious. Giving thanks. Every time I have a certain situation or problem that is on my mind, instead of worrying about how it will turn out, or feeling like this is the end, I find something in my life that I can be thankful for. I pray to God thanking him for those things. I find that the more I start to think of what I have to be thankful for, the more I realize that the good things far outweigh the bad. The more I do this, the easier it becomes. I begin to find things in all aspects of my life that I can praise God for. If you are interested more in how this works for me and how it can help you, I plan on spending an entire future article on thankfulness.

So what does all this have to do with “Your Plan” versus “God’s Plan”? As human beings, we are natural thinkers and planners. We all have ideas in our heads about how we think something should go in our lives, whether it’s daily, yearly or even further down the line. When those plans get disrupted or broken, we get upset, angry, defeated or even broken.

As a parent, I can’t count how many times my daughter has had something not go her way or plans get changed. These times were inevitably followed by breakdowns of screaming or crying or tantrums. As a first reaction, it was easy to just tell her to “get over it”. However, over time I realized the better way to approach these situations was to try to get her to see the positive that was still there. So she messed up her drawing. I would try to show her how we could still fix it, or even turn it into something else. So she broke something important to her. I would help her try to piece it back together. So she didn’t get to do something she was really looking forward to. I would find an alternative that was just as fun, or find a way to reschedule the event. These reactions would always help her to feel better, much more so than simply telling her to “get over it”.

I don’t know about you, but I myself am a definite planner. I am certainly not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of person! In fact, sometimes that stresses me out more than a failed plan! Just ask my husband on this one! I am a list maker. Whether it is a grocery list, a to-do list, or a list to plan out some future event, I thrive on lists. If you just throw a bunch of tasks at me and tell me to go, nothing will ever get done. My brain will be in utter chaos and the thought of everything that must get done takes over until I usually just give up. Needless to say then, I certainly have an idea of how I want my life to turn out. Over the years my life has looked a lot more like God’s path in the picture I mentioned at the beginning. I have been thrown on countless twists and turns and loops. I have fallen into many a pit, only to have to climb my way back out to continue along my path.

It used to really upset me when something would throw me off course. I’ve come to realize now that what I want for my life is not always the best thing. God has a plan for me, and sometimes He has to change my course in order to keep me on that plan. It’s not always easy to recognize, and sometimes I have to play the “wait and see” game. I have prayed often for God simply to lead me and show me the way I am supposed to be going. Now, I in no way believe that our lives are completely mapped out by God and we have no control over them. We are conscious beings and can certainly make decisions that affect our lives whether for the good or bad. I do, however, believe that God has a purpose for all of our lives, and He can help us to find it. So instead of worrying about how something will turn out, I often find myself lifting my worries and concerns to God. If you let go of it all and let God take control, you will find so much less stress in your life.

So to sum it all up, yes, things are going to go wrong in your life. No life is perfect. That’s the nature of this world. If we focus on the bad, we will only find that we worry years off our lives. Instead, let God take control. Focus on what is positive in your life. This is not an easy thing to do. It has taken me almost 40 years to be able to say this, and even at that, I still have my moments of doubt. I have found that the more I try, the easier it gets and the less stress I feel. It is my hope that perhaps you too can begin to make this change in your life.

Jeremiah 29:11 says: “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.”

Remember this verse the next time your path goes off course, and remember that God has a plan for YOU!!

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