Life Plan

"The Lord will work out His plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me." Psalm 138:8 NLT

Have you ever made a plan? Planning is a part of my life. When I was in the corporate world I had to make and live by a business plan. In ministry we make ministry plans. There is the household budget. Home improvement plan. Fitness plan. Career plan. Marriage plan. The fact is that most of us have some type of plan for our lives.

The problem with plans is that they don't always happen. Or they may not happen as good as we anticipate. The corporation that plans for a high margin of profit, only to fail because of a recession. The boy that plans to marry his childhood sweetheart, only to have her fall in love with his best friend. I planned on climbing the Royal Arches in Yosemite. A week before the climb, I broke a bone in my wrist that had be in a cast for 16 weeks. Then I decided I no longer wanted to climb. Plans are good, but they don't always succeed.

Some plans work out better than we anticipated. I planned on getting married but I never planned on a wife as awesome as Peggy!

The point is that we can only control so much. When our plans don't happen the way we want, we can get discouraged, disappointed and depressed. We can even get angry or give up. That's how I felt for six years. Nothing I planned--as far as my career, purchasing a home or income--seemed to be happening. It was as though God had forgotten about me. I was watching everyone around me achieve their plans, but I seemed to be going nowhere. Or so I thought. God had a different plan for my life. He would make it happen in the time that He planned--not me.

When we lay our agenda down and ask God to cause His will to be done, something marvelous happens; God brings His plans for our lives into being. The Bible says,
"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10 NLT

God has good plans for us. What are your plans? Do they include Jesus?