We feel a sense of security and enablement knowing what’s ahead. At work, we have strategic plans, project plans, crisis plans, emergency response plans and countless other types of plans to gain a sense of power and control over circumstances.

Planning is a good thing. It puts structure around our ideas, hopes and dreams. Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

Yet, our human plans are imperfect. We all know that even the greatest planning from the most brilliant minds with the finest intentions doesn’t always work out as expected – especially when it comes to our personal lives.

These unexpected bumps in the road are often minor and produce nothing more than an irritable mood, small delay or just a really bad day. But sometimes they are so unexpected and overwhelming that they cause a major detour that knocks our wheels off and sends us on a nosedive into the great unknown, leaving you feeling disappointed, hurt and puzzled as you watch your gleaming plans fizzle into an unreachable darkness.  

I had a plan to get married, raise a family and grow old with the man that captured my heart and made me feel loved enough to say, “I do.” Fourteen years after the wedding ceremony we separated and were divorced by Christmas that year. I will never forget leaving the courthouse, a divorced woman, clueless about my next steps. My feet moved along the tree-lined streets bursting with twinkle lights and the sound of Christmas carols; the festive music that I had always loved suddenly sounded absurd and out of sync with my melancholy mood. It was a bitter cold December day in Pittsburgh, and I don’t know why, but I dressed up for the occasion; maybe I thought my polished outward appearance would influence the dullness I felt inside. Though I was surrounded by streams of people, I felt sad and alone, like a woman whose little civilization had just been burned to the ground, staring at invisible ashes, reflecting on the plans that were wiped from existence. Now what? Where do I even begin?

I had to unravel my plans...but God had a plan! (But that’s a story - or perhaps a book - for another day!)

Have you ever had a precious plan completely shatter? A dream tied to plans that you were sure would come to pass?

Unraveled plans can make us feel defeated, angry, hurt, anxious, uncomfortable and afraid, the abysmal jaws of uncertainty can terrify us. So, we do everything in our power to control every part of the plan to avoid those difficult human emotions.

I have found that when my plans get wrecked and I experience adversity, it forces me to unravel what I thought I knew. The pain, trauma and tragedy we experience during these times forces us to take a deeper look inside ourselves, our motives, the illusion that we can control everything. When I am forced to dive to those deep places, I discover the truth that God is the ultimate plan-maker, the final outcomes of the plans we make are in God’s hands.

Proverbs 16:9 | A person plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (ISV)

Wanna pray?

God, I believe you have a beautiful plan and purpose for every one of us. As we make our plans for the future, help us to have faith in you to direct our steps and help us to trust the plans you have for our lives.  May you always be the light that guides us, the light we follow, and the voice we hear.