It can be incredibly easy for us as humans to think we know exactly what God’s plans are for our lives. But what do we do when the plans we were so sure were God’s don’t come to fruition?
I recently contributed a story to the Christmas anthology, A Star Will Rise. The theme of the anthology was expectation. In my story, “Sixty Feet to Home”, major league pitching star, Jonas Kendall, waits with great anticipation to see the unfolding of the plans he is absolutely convinced God has for his life. In Jonas’s mind, “His life plan spread out before him as clearly as the street he maneuvered his sports car along, the signs pointing him in the direction God wanted him to go as simple for him to read as the yield sign he was passing by now.” He would achieve great fame and fortune in his career and then parlay that into doing great things for God when he becomes the pastor of a mega-church. So clear.
Then, in a moment, all of those plans come crashing down around him.
Suddenly nothing in his life is clear. And Jonas finds himself questioning everything he has ever believed to be true about a good, sovereign God. As he put it, “What was he doing here, stuck in some forgotten church in some forgotten little town? He pursed his lips. Actually, his exile here was fitting. After all, he was a forgotten man. Forgotten by his fans, his teammates, the adoring females pressing in around him after every game. Certainly and most absolutely forgotten by God.”
This is a crazy time in history. Life as we know it came to a crashing halt eight months ago. The results of the election remain uncertain and the path to peace and unity is unclear. Nothing looks in this moment the way any of us could have envisioned it a year ago. The plans of man have come crashing down around us.
Does that mean God has forgotten us or that He is no longer good? If the plans that, in our human minds, seemed so obvious and right don’t actually unfold the way we expect them to, have God’s plans been thwarted? Has He somehow lost control of the universe?
Not according to the Word of God. Verse after verse remind us that, although God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts so that we cannot always understand what is happening or why, we can still trust Him. When it seems as though what is going on cannot possibly be God’s will, the words of Proverbs 19:21 remind us that, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”
After a long, hard struggle with God, Jonas has to admit that, “He was tired. Tired of holding on to the anger and bitterness. Exhausted from clutching the jagged, broken fragments of the dreams he’d had for his life and future. They stung and cut his hands and his heart. It was time to let them go.”
Are you tired of clutching on to dreams and plans that are not coming true, even though you were so sure they were God’s plans for you or for the ones you love or for your country?
Maybe it’s time to let go of all of those expectations, and the fear, anger, and bitterness that have risen up as a result of those expectations not being met. Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that the God who measured the universe with the span of his hand, who created the oceans and told the waves that this far they could come and no farther, is still on His throne and nothing can stop His plans from being fulfilled.
My prayer for you is that you come to the same realization that Jonas Kendall did. “For so long he had expected God to fall in line with his dreams. Now all he wanted to do was wait in expectation to see what God would do with his life next.” And may that realization bring you great peace and hope today and in the days to come.
Sara Davison is the author of three romantic suspense series—The Seven Trilogy, The Night Guardians, and The Rose Tattoo Trilogy. She has been a finalist for ten national writing awards, including Best New Canadian Christian author, a Carol, a Selah, and two Daphne du Maurier Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a Word and Cascade Award winner. She currently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their three children. The words on the mug she uses every morning pretty much sum up her life—I just want to sleep, drink coffee, and make stuff up. Get to know Sara better at www.saradavison.org and @sarajdavison.
A Star Will Rise is now available!
Christmas should be a time of wonder and expectation, but what if tragedy, illness, family secrets, or betrayal strip away every belief in what the future holds? And in a good and loving God?
When circumstances beyond their control dramatically alter their lives, can broken, betrayed, and disillusioned people rediscover their faith and come to see that God’s plans are far better for them than the ones they had imagined for themselves?
