There’s a saying you may have heard: Man plans. God laughs.
The first time I heard it, it rang true. I was sitting alone in a new apartment—single, states away from my family, miles from the city I thought I’d live in after college— starting a job in a field I never imagined for myself.
Where did all my carefully laid plans go?
I did everything “right.” I got the degree— but there was no ring by spring. By the age of 25, I still wasn’t married with kids. The picture of a “successful life” that I planned for myself doesn’t match the one I’m living.
But I remember giving my life to God, to do as He wills for it. And as I’ve given each life decision over to Him, Proverbs 16:3 comes to mind: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
I fully believe each step I took to get to where I am today was out of obedience to the Lord’s plan for my life, but it doesn’t stop this grief inside me, mourning the life I had planned for myself.
But acknowledging my obedience didn’t stop that thought that maybe God had some smug satisfaction at turning my idea of success upside down…
Enter a daily encouraging text from STAR that stopped me in my tracks one day:
Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”
I spent a lot of time invalidating my sad feelings, telling myself I shouldn’t feel upset over things that never happened and that I needed to be grateful. That psalm felt like God tucking me into His arms, whispering that there is space for feeling the excitement of the life I was living and space to walk through sadness of the one I wasn’t. In the sadness, He was with me.
I realized that the idea that God’s laughing at me isn’t right; He doesn’t think my disappointment is funny. He doesn’t look at me grieving for a life I thought I’d have and tell me to be grateful. He takes our honesty and heartache and sits in it with us.
God is not petty. He isn’t laughing at us when we mess up or have big feelings. When we’re vulnerable and honest with the Lord, He meets us where we are.
God is kind. He walks with me in my day to day. When I hike a trail, I thank Him for the gift of nature. When I see a beautiful sunset after a hard day, it’s a gentle reminder that He’s with me and sees me. When I chat with a stranger at a coffee shop, I’m reminded that God can use me to brighten someone’s day the same way that He uses that stranger I talked to. When I’m stuck in traffic, and second guessing the route I chose, God reminds me that He is guiding my steps – big or small.
I’m finding that every day is an exercise of faith. I trust that God has a plan for my life, and He is with me in my disappointment when His plan doesn’t look like my plan.
I trust that I am following His will, and He will catch me when I stumble and course-correct me when I wander off the path.
I trust that there is nowhere I can go that He will not meet me there— whether that’s physically halfway across the world, or metaphorically down a well of despair and broken heartedness. He is a loving God that meets us where we are and guides our steps when we ask.
If you’re anything like me, I often need the reminder that Jeremiah 29:11 offers:
“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 know I am living in answered prayers. I know that God is with me in the excitement and the devastation. And I know that the hope that the Lord offers will never run out.
Sarah Roberts
STAR 99.1 Staff | Listen Now
P.S. Text the word UPLIFTING to the number 54214, and you can get the encouraging text that I get from STAR every day, too!
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Dear Sarah: Thank you. That was very good and something that all of us need to be reminded of. There have been times when God’s plans and mine haven’t matched and there was nothing I could do about it and I didn’t like it. I just want to encourage you that you are not alone in this.
Cindy
Hi Cindy, I appreciate you letting me know I’m not alone. God’s plans are always best, but it can be hard to see that in the moment. Have a blessed week.