I used to be a “planner.” (Those who have only known me for a few years will have a hard time believing this, but it’s true.) As a child I would plan my birthday parties to the very detail. Planning gave me a sense of security. It was fun. It made me feel . . . empowered, for lack of a better word. It’s one thing to be organized, it’s another to over-plan.
As I grew in body and in faith I discovered that if I wanted to live my life the way God wanted me to live it and to do what he had called me to do, I would need to stop planning so much. I had to let go of my own ideas of how things should be.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
If your life is anything like mine, your plans, more often than not, lead you to disappointment. The saying is true, “things rarely go according to plan.” It’s true, at least, if you’re walking with God.
Consider Israel: they were given the “big picture” of what was going to happen. But they weren’t given the details. They were told to trust, obey, and follow God’s lead. This was frustrated them to the point that many gave up before they reached their destination. Why? Because they weren’t secure in God’s calling—they were only secure in their plans.
This is our problem: we want to know the details. We want to see each step of the path before we start walking so we can prepare ourselves for any bumps along the way. Really, we just want to be in control. So we plan. And planning makes us feel like we’re in control, even though we aren’t. And being in control makes us feel secure.
Many years ago I received a letter from a dear father in the faith that said, “God will rarely show you what he is going to do because then you will try to do it yourself.” He quoted Psalm 77:19
Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the mighty waters, and Your footprints may not be known.
We see in part. God sees every detail. We are shortsighted. He sees the end. Our walk of faith is a tedious one. We aren’t called to sit still and twiddle our thumbs, but we are called to proceed carefully and be open to change.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8
When we hear God calling us to do something or to get up and go somewhere, we must do what Abraham did: obey, regardless of what we see or don’t see. What’s interesting is that when we trust God and embrace his plans, we find what we have been fighting to have the whole time: security and peace.
It took a long time, and frankly, quite a bit of suffering (where I was physically unable to get up and do whatever was in my own head) to get me to the place where I finally felt comfortable having no set plans. I’ve had to learn to let things be when I have no idea what’s next. I’ve had to learn to let God hold me wherever I am and trust that he will not leave me or forsake me. He hasn’t stopped leading and never will.
The journey is just as important as the destination—and the destination is nowhere on this earth.
. . . {Abraham} was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:10
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. . . .
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:1-2, 6
