If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 40 years, it’s that nothing is set in stone. The best laid plans are never 100% flawless. What you thought was the plan for your life, may not be where God wants you. So many times I have said “I will never…” only to do that very thing.
When I was younger, I planned to get married when I was 28. Well, that hasn’t exactly played out the way I thought.
I’ve always “prided” myself on never having rented a home/apartment/room in my life. I moved from my mom’s house into a condo I bought shortly after college. From the condo, I bought my house, which I recently sold. Today, I find myself renting a room from a friend. I never planned to be here.
God’s Plan Prevails
I’m learning that we can make our plans but God’s plans trump ours. Nothing in life is sacred but God. Clinging tightly to my agenda, my possessions, my dreams and the people in my life, turns them into idols – and prime targets for being stripped from my life. God may take them to discipline me or simply to teach me that He is all I need. My work. My home. My relationships. Nothing is off limits for God. They’re all substitutes for what truly matters in life – faith in Christ. I may not have a home right now but my relationship with Christ transcends all circumstances.
Offer ‘It’ Up
When was the last time you offered God something you see as a part of you? If God asked you to leave your job, would you? If God told you to change careers, would you? If he told you to move to the inner city, would you go? What if he wanted you move across the country? If he asked you to live forever single, would you give up looking for a spouse? What is sacred in your life? Will you offer it up to God?
Proverbs 16:9 (NLT): We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.
James 4:13-16 (NLT): Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
