The Best Laid Plans

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.”

It's cliché, I know, but the famous Woody Allen quote about making God laugh is totally true. I have come to believe more and more that not only does God have an incredible plan for us but He also has a great sense of humor. There have been so many times in my life when I thought I knew what I was supposed to be doing and it turned around 180 degrees. When I was 5 I was sure I was going to be a pilot, when I was 7 I was going to be a zookeeper and when I was eight I was going to be an ice skater for Beauty and the Beast on Ice (don’t ask). But the last couple years The Lord has been working in my life and showing me what it means to fully put my trust in Him.

I’m the kind of person who really likes to plan for things before they happen, not because I don’t trust God, but because I like to be prepared. Recently I’ve learned that there’s nothing wrong with being prepared but part of that preparedness is being ready to change those plans at a moments notice. God doesn’t always give us a clear answer when we want him to. He’s not the proverbial genie in a bottle. He does things in His timing and although it may not make sense to us He knows the big picture and we just need to obediently follow His leading.

Peter and Andrew probably had plans to be fishers for the rest of their lives, and that’s exactly what would have happened if they hadn’t decided to follow Jesus. Imagine what would have happened if Moses decided that he wanted to continue living as royalty in Egypt. Or what if David was just fine with looking after sheep for the rest of his life? What if Noah decided that building an ark wasn’t on his agenda?

For me it’s a struggle sometimes to ask God for direction and then have to wait patiently and seek Him for an answer. What am I worried about though? Running out of time? Or missing an opportunity? But if God is The God who created the universe (and He is) then why am I worried about something that should be so simple for Him?

It’s because I’m in the same situation as the children of Israel after they left Egypt. They were ecstatic about leaving slavery behind but very quickly that “high” wore off. We can look back at the exodus now and say to ourselves “Come on! What were they thinking? They just had food fall from the sky!??! And they are doubting God again??” Well the difference is that we know the end of the story and they didn’t. That’s the point where we’re at in our lives, but we can have assurance in the knowledge that even if we don’t know about life’s twists and turns The Lord does.

A lot of times people use this illustration about God being the co-pilot, but I think God should be THE pilot and we should just be sitting in a seat. A passenger knows where they are going. I mean, they have to have a ticket to board the plane after all. The passengers aren’t sitting in their seats with their navigational maps and GPSs wondering how the pilot is going to get them to their destination, or if he’s properly compensating for the crosswind. Since Jesus bought the ticket for us we should just be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Of course that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be smooth flying, there may be some turbulence on your way there.

The point is that we need to put our full trust in God and His perfect plan that He has for us and know that it’s better than anything we could think up. We just have to be willing to change our plans so they line up with His.

-Dane