Trust The Plan
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“I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” Jeremiah 29:11
The hawk flew low across the parking lot in front of me and landed on a branch in a tree. It had missed whatever animal it had swooped down to grab. Earlier in the week, I watched the hawk sit on the wire high above the lot and just survey its territory. A hawk always makes me smile now because it is a reminder of my husband, Dave who had a fascination with hawks. It is also God’s way of sending me a message that his spirit is with me. The hawk reminds me of my foundation of love that will always be with me everywhere I go.
Usually, I see a hawk just sitting on a fence or wire, but lately I have been seeing more hawks soaring through the air. I interpret this as God’s way of speaking to me that it is time to keep moving forward. It is time to be active and move, and God is telling me that He will be with me.
I am currently packing my possessions and planning for my next move. Yes, I am moving to a new location. In a few days I will be leaving an area that has represented my ministry for the past thirty plus years. I have been blessed with many opportunities to share God’s love and grace with others. It has been a privilege to walk with people in their joys, sorrows, and everyday life. I give thanks to God for using me to share the love and compassion of Jesus with so many people. I will continue to be in ministry the rest of my life but in different ways. My counseling ministry will continue but mainly virtually.
As I prepared to pack, I made a plan where to start, what possessions to pack first and what needed to be boxed last and unpacked first. I also have been planning where the furniture and items I own will be placed in my new space. Yes, I make plans, but I know that no amount of planning and ideas will replace the actual seeing the possessions in the new space and finding their permanent location through trial and error.
Some of us are planners. We have planner calendars and set goals and make lists of things to accomplish within a certain time frame. Plans and goals are necessary to help us function in daily life and keep us focused. But what happens when plans do not turn out like we expected? How do we handle disappointments, unexpected situations, and complications? You cannot foresee every possible issue in a plan. Sometimes it feels like God has plans to hurt us and cause us pain. Life is unfair, but I do not believe God plans to harm or hurt us. Choices and consequences of other people’s choices cause hurt and pain and the brokenness of this sinful world.
Through my process of letting go of this familiar location of my life, I have come to accept that there are seasons of life and change is good. We may have a plan or vision for our future, and sometimes in our planning though, we limit God’s blessings that He has for us. We are looking at our own plans with our limited strength, vision, ability, and resources, and do not count on God’s power and strength and unlimited resources. Everything is God’s.
In Jeremiah 29:11, God speaks to us saying, “I will give you hope and a good future.” Do you believe this promise? You may have lost hope when life changed, or your hope died with your loved one or another type of loss. Therefore, it is difficult to see good in the future. You had plans and now they will never happen. It is true that they will not occur as you had planned. Life will be different, and God will work in this different to bring blessings into your life.
It is letting go of our finite, tunnel vision plans and trusting God’s infinite and unlimited plans. God will only reveal to us one step at a time. It may not even make sense to you, but it is still trusting God. Oh, we can play it safe and stay where we are and just exist in the familiar life. But I believe God has a bigger plan to bless us with abundant life. And it has nothing to do with wealth, possessions, power, or position. God wants us to live life to the fullest. To receive His peace that will bring contentment no matter what is around us. A good future is God’s promise. It is God’s promises to be with us each moment. Life is good because God is good. A good future and hope is trusting God and living in the present with God.
So, now I make a plan everyday to live more fully into life. I plan to be aware of God’s presence with me each moment. To trust God with my future and not worry about finances, possessions, what the future will look like, and even how everything will get from one house to the next. I am just taking one step at a time and living in the hope of Jesus.
God wants to give you hope and a good future. Trust the plan.
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