“I found that when we’re earnest in creating a life plan for ourselves, we need to allow the Lord to be the architect of that plan. When the Lord is the architect, long-term benefits result and connect us to additional opportunities and experiences that accelerate our capacity for growth.” (W. Craig Zwick, “Ponder, Pray, Perform, Persevere,” New Era, May 2007).
I am a planner. I like to know where I am headed, and what to expect. I tend to get anxious if I don’t have a plan in place–for my life, for my kids, for the next month or the next 5 years. I will spend copious amounts of time researching and creating these life plans and when they inevitably don’t go as I had planned them, it can shake me up a bit.
When I was in high school I went on an amazing rip to Europe with my mom. We spent a few days in Paris and I fell in love with the city. I set a goal that I would someday live in that amazing city. In college I had it all planned out. There was a BYU study abroad in Paris and I was going to go during the fall of my sophomore year. I was studying at BYU-Hawaii and as winter semester moved along, I went through the application process for the following fall. I also really wanted to stay for spring term in Hawaii. I wanted to move off campus with a friend of mine and I really just didn’t want to leave the island I had come to love as my home. These 2 great desires of my heart were competing because if I was going to France, I needed to go home and get a job so I would have the money I needed for the study abroad semester and wouldn’t be able to stay longer in Hawaii. (I know, I know… tough life…). I prayed and prayed that I would somehow be able to do both, but never doubting that I would be spending the fall in France and fulfilling a dream I had been counting on.
The envelope came. I was an alternate. I wasn’t accepted into the study abroad program.
I was devastated. All my hopes and dreams (the dramatics of being 19) were shattered. I picked myself up and made plans for a great spring term in Hawaii, but my heart was a little broken and I wasn’t sure how I would be able to fit my Paris dreams into my college plans any more.
The second week of spring term I got a phone call. Someone had dropped out of the study abroad program and there was a spot for me. It was too late to drop my spring classes and get out of my lease so I stayed in Hawaii for spring AND had an amazing fall experience in France.
My God had plans that I didn’t know about. All along He was orchestrating it so that I could do both of the amazing things I wanted to do that year. I just needed to trust that He would work everything out for me if I was trying my best to do His will.
Now, it doesn’t always work out so seamlessly. Sometimes those plans and deep desires just aren’t God’s will for us—I certainly have had many other experiences where I have made plans, they have not worked out, I have been devastated and prayerful and they still didn’t work out. But in those situations, God’s plan has always turned out WAY better than the amazing plan I thought I had worked out. In time I have learned to make plans, but make them flexible and not let it destroy my world when they don’t work out. God always has something great in store for me if I keep the faith and just hold on a little longer. And He has great things in store for you as well if you will allow Him to be in charge.
Meditation and Journaling Prompt: What is your big plan? Your secret wishes? Have you prayed to know what God’s plan is for you? What are His secret wishes for your life? Can you remember a time when your plans didn’t work out, but it was better in the long run or your desire was fulfilled in another, unexpected way?
