That's Weird. Who Did You Say Has a Plan?

I always have a plan. Do you?

Here we are looking at Prayer #11 of the 13 Prayers I pray for my readers.

The prayer:

To see God’s plan for your life

Why it matters:

I love to plan.

It makes me happy. I love knowing what’s coming. I’ve even been know to write “Be Spontaneous” on my calendar when Hubby, AKA Capt. Spontaneous, lets me know we have plans but he doesn’t have them all worked out yet. (As in, ‘let’s do something 2 weeks from Saturday.’ So I block the day off to prevent my creating a different plan on that day.)

The best plan:

My plan doesn’t always work. Things change. But the good news is this: God has a plan for you. It just requires faith. Jere. 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.'”

I always take note when a word is repeated in Scripture, and this verse uses “plans” three times! Take note. His plans will: prosper you, not harm you, give you hope, and give you a future.

We’re talking about the Creator of the Universe here. The same God who made the variety of animals and scenery knows what He has in store for YOU.

Transitioning to a GPS plan:

Being a fierce planner, it was hard for me to switch over from holding a map in my hand to trusting a disembodied voice on a GPS. A map lets you see the entire plan. Sure, you can fold it up and focus on your current stage of the trip, but anytime you want, you just unfold it and voila! There it is.

On the other hand, a GPS only shows you a very tiny portion of your trip at a time. There on a screen is your current location and your next task to get to your destination. But, in my current car at least, it takes some doing to get to see the entire plan. Therefore, I am more of a map girl.

But God works in GPS terms. See Prov. 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” God will straighten your path, but He may only give you a quick peek at the plan for now.

God’s plan prevails:

Prov. 19:20-21 flat out tells us that even if we plan big plans, it will be God’s plan that wins out in the end. “Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”

Put your hope in the plan:

We serve a God of HOPE. (Rom. 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”) The key is to trust in Him. You are His child. He loves you. In fact, He loves you enough to send His only Son to face the punishment for all your sin. So why wouldn’t He have your best interests in mind when He formed His plan for you? We just have to trust.

Listen to the Holy (gp)S:

Ever make a wrong turn or be forced into a detour when following a GPS? Then the thing starts fussing at you to do this or turn here – or even “Make a legal U turn.” – to get back on track? Well, God gave us the Holy Spirit (HS) as our Holy gpS. Get this: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.'” Is. 30:21)

Please note that you have to be moving toward something for this to work. And you have to be listening! (See how all these prayers of mine work together?)

Work the plan:

Phil. 1:6 says, “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God started a work in you and me. I know I’m still a Work in Progress. But we can ask Him to keep at it. He’s the God who completes things. I mean, He made the world and everything in it (plus the rest of the universe) in only 6 days. But as fallible humans, we take a bit longer.

I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear (Not an affiliate link). One of my biggest take-aways was that we can never tell when we are at the moment just before a major breakthrough-so we must keep going.

Just like this:An ice cube sitting on a table will not melt in a room that’s 28 degrees. But, slowly warm the room – 29 degrees. 30. 31. Nothing changed. But we are 1 degree from change.

You may work and work on something or pray repeatedly for something. Don’t quit. Today may be the day BEFORE change happens. Don’t pull off the road a mile before you reach your destination just because the trip was long and you grew weary.

Father God, thank you for your plans and for leading us to your best. Help us to not grow weary on our journey to becoming Your best servant.