God’s Plans and Ours

We’ve been talking about following God’s will for a little while now, and after reading article after article about giving up control of our lives and letting God call the shots, you might be left thinking that setting any sort of plan or goal in life is a bad thing. I hope that’s not the case. But if it is, I’d like to apologize and take the opportunity to correct that misconception now. Because planning certainly isn’t a bad thing in and of itself.

In fact, planning is good. As we’ve noted before, God gave us our minds for a reason, and we’re meant to use them. The most successful people in life are those who are able to set goals, break those goals down into actionable steps, and then make those steps into reality. Planning is a skill God that gives us to enable us to do great things for him.

But there are a few caveats. As with anything God gives us, we have the ability to use this skill in the wrong way. Our plans can get in the way if we prioritize them over what he wants for us. So how do we make and execute plans without straying from or interfering with God’s will? Here‘s my approach.

Dare to dream.

Our goals and ambitions are often gifts from God, and he gives them to us so that we can pursue them. If you have a dream for your life that you feel is in line with who God made you to be and what the world needs right now, then you should by all means pursue it. Figure out what it will take to make that dream happen, and then start working towards it. You never know, it might just be your calling.

Too often, we spend so much time wondering whether or not a certain goal is God’s will for us that we miss out on the opportunity altogether. This is a shame. We would do better to start something and find that it’s not God’s will than to wait too long and realize that we should have begun long ago.

You know the old saying: It’s better to ask forgiveness than for permission. When we’re earnestly pursuing God’s will, he’s going to understand and forgive us if we accidentally take a wrong turn now and then. Better to try to do good and have to backtrack than to get stuck doing nothing. Sometimes, God uses those seeming failures to help clarify his will for us by eliminating certain options that would otherwise turn into what-ifs.

Don’t assume that just because you have a goal that you need to suppress it. God’s will starts with conviction, and conviction often comes in the form of passions and talents. Don’t be afraid to dream, because God can use those dreams to show you what he has in store for you.

Remember who’s in charge.

At the same time, it’s important to recognize that we aren’t perfect. Our minds are subject to fallenness, and so our plans aren’t always the best for us. We’ve talked about this before, so there’s no need to go too deeply into it. But the basic principle still remains: The only person who should be calling the shots on the direction of our lives is God, and so our plans are always subject to his approval. If we’re simply pursuing our own ambitions without consulting him and following his guidance, we will find ourselves in a bad spot very soon.

So we’re supposed to make plans and try to follow them, all the while recognizing that those plans may not be God’s will and thus might have to be thrown out completely. That sounds hard enough in print. How are we supposed to make that happen in our day-to-day lives? That’s where a couple of really important skills come in.

Practice flexibility and hope.

The first thing you’re going to need to navigate this tension between planning and following God’s will is flexibility. God has this tendency to take all of our expectations and throw them out the window. It’s in his nature; it’s a part of his process of teaching us to trust him. And so we have to hold on to our plans loosely.

We have to be ready to change course as soon he tells us to. If he says, “Move,” when we don’t feel prepared, we still have to move. And if he says, “Wait,” when we think making a move is the best option, we have to be willing to trust him and do what he says, even when our plans say otherwise. (Patience, by the way, is probably the most difficult form of flexibility. Practice it early and often.)

Life with God is a journey. It takes a lot of twists and turns, and the only person with the road map is God. We can’t see the big picture the way he can. So there will be times when he asks us to do things that don’t make a lot of sense, that don’t appear to be in our best interest, that don’t seem to move us towards the goals we’ve set for ourselves. But if we practice flexibility and do what he calls us to even when it messes up our plans, he’s going to bless us and show us a better way than we ever could have imagined.

And that’s where the second skill comes in: hope. Hope basically comes down to believing in the deepest part of your soul that God has the best in mind for us. It’s choosing to have a mindset of trust in the one we’ve decided to follow. He’s our good guide on the path of life, and if we can maintain our faith in him even when the external evidence compels us to lose it, we can find hope in the midst of any life situation, and that hope will sustain us through to the other side of hard times.

And there will be hard times when we choose to follow God’s path. It’s not all happiness and sunshine. It’s a constant struggle to put yourself second and choose to put him and his plans first. There will be moments when you feel stuck and don’t see a way out. Or when you feel impatient because your plan isn’t playing out according to your timeline. Or when you wonder if what you’re doing has any value at all. But it’s in those moments that we need hope the most, and it’s in those moments that God gets an opportunity to show us his ability to use any situation for our good when we’re following him.

One last note on hope: I’ve found that the big breakthroughs in my life have always taken place right after overcoming the temptation to give up hope. It’s happened over and over for me. Whenever I feel a dream, a goal, or a plan slipping away and I choose to trust God and follow his will anyway, that’s when he blesses me with the desires of my heart.

The best example of this that I can think of is my romantic life. It’s so easy to get caught up in the dream of finding the right person and getting married. It can become an obsession, a distraction, and a huge source of anxiety. So a long time ago, I gave that dream over to God and said, “I trust you with this. If it’s a part of your will, great. If not, I’m going to follow you anyway.”

It’s not that I didn’t have a goal and a plan; it’s that I chose to submit them to him and his will. And believe me, there were times when I was tempted to give up hope. When my timeline was completely thrown off, my prospects were nonexistent, and my loneliness threatened to overwhelm me. But I chose to trust that whatever God had in store for me was the best life possible, no matter my marital status. And in the end, he blessed me by leading me to the person I’m meant to be with for life.

As backwards as it may seem, it’s only when we’re willing to trust God with something that he turns around and trusts us with it. It’s only in following his plan for our lives that we have any hope of seeing our own plans through. Because at the end of the day, the best possible plan we could have for our lives is his. And we can live out the perfect plan he has for our lives if we’ll only follow him.

So don’t be afraid to dream and to make plans based on the dreams that God has given you. But in the midst of pursuing those plans, remember to practice flexibility and hope in light of his will. It’s not an easy balance to find, but once you do, you’ll be able to dream and follow God at the same time, and that’s a really wonderful way to do life with him. May it be so for each of us.

God’s Will, Our Choice

Often when we think of God’s will, we imagine a script with every scene, every line, and every movement written out ahead of time. But as we started to examine last week, it’s actually less like a script than we might think. God is relational, and so he invites us into the process of shaping and fulfilling his plans along with him. At any moment, he’s ready and willing for us to go on this journey with him if we’re only willing to join in.

This truth has some pretty profound impacts on how we understand and attempt to follow God’s will. This week, I’d like to talk about one of them. Specifically, I want to discuss our agency in the midst of following God’s will.

It may sound paradoxical to say that we get to make choices when we’re follow God’s plan for our lives. After all, wasn’t the whole point to give up control in the first place? Of course. But like most things, we find that when we give control of our lives over to God, he ends up giving it back to us in ways we never would have imagined.

Have you ever come to a major decision in your life and felt like God wasn’t helping you make it? You pray and pray and pray, but he never gives you an answer. The deadline is coming up, and you still haven’t heard a word from him. You’ve read scripture, weighed the pros and cons, asked your discerning friends for advice, and lost countless hours of sleep, but you still don’t feel like God is giving you a clear indication of which path forward is the one he has for you. Have you ever been there? Most of us have. And if you haven’t, you soon will. It can be terrifying, but it doesn’t have to be.

Here’s an idea: What if God isn’t giving you a clear answer because he doesn’t have one? What if God’s will is big enough, his wisdom profound enough, his love for us deep enough, that we can make the decision ourselves and still be in line with his will? What if either path has the potential to be God’s will as long as we travel that path with him?

I think that God sometimes gives us a choice along the journey with him. Not the choice of whether to follow his will or not, but literally the choice of which path we want to go down with him. If you’re trying to make a decision and it feels like more than one choice could be God’s will for your life, it very well could be the case.

This sort of thing doesn’t happen all the time, and it can only happen within the context of a person faithfully and dutifully following God’s will, but I believe that it does happen. Sometimes, God’s will for our lives can be accomplished more than one way, and so he gives us a choice. The options are different and have real, long-term effects on how our lives turn out, but they’re within the realm of God’s will no matter which one we choose because we’re following him and choosing to take that next step with him.

It’s important to note that even in this situation, we aren’t making the decision completely on our own. We’ve followed God’s guidance to a point where we’re given more than one good option. Only through following him do we even find ourselves positioned to make a choice that is good for us in the long run. God, not us, has set up a situation where we can’t make a wrong decision, and that’s a wonderful place to be. These moments are blessings from and rewards for being faithful followers, and in these moments, we get to experience a new way of journeying through life with him.

So how do we make those choices when they arise? Well, God gave us our minds for a reason. We can use them to make good, informed decisions when we’re focused on doing things his way. And as I’ve said before, our passions and preferences are God-given traits that help us understand his will for us, so we should be willing to listen to them for guidance when his answer is absent or unclear. These, too, are sources that we can use for discerning which way forward is best, as long as we never give in to the temptation of taking back total control of our lives.

It’s strange and mysterious, but it’s true: Only through giving up control of our lives to God can we gain any choice over our life journeys. When we trust him and choose to do things his way, he turns around and trusts to make decisions, too. If you’re asking God for direction and don’t hear his answer, don’t fret. It’s very possible that he’s giving you an opportunity to have some input on the plan, too.

So when that opportunity arises, step out. Use the intellect and passions God has given you to make the choice that’s right for you. And as you take that step, bring God along with you as your partner and guide, thanking him for the opportunity to forge this path of life together.

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Have I Missed Out on God's Will?

For most of us, it takes some time, some failures, and some persuasion to get to a point where we’re ready to stop trying to do things our way and follow God’s will. Once we get to that point, it’s natural to look back and wish that we had done things differently from the start. It’s natural even to wonder how life might have turned out had we been less stubborn. And we might even wonder: If I’ve been neglecting to follow God’s plan for this long, is it even possible for me to get back on track? How could I even start to make up for that lost time? Have I missed out on God’s will for my life?

Rather than bury the lead, I’m going to start off this article with the answer to the central question. And I want to be very clear on this: You have not missed out on God’s will for your life. God is not done with you. No matter where you find yourself in life, he has a plan for you, and if you’re committed to following it, you can and will reach that point.

So there you go. The question’s been answered, so the blog post is over, right?

If only it were that easy. Because as simple as it is to answer the question, it’s not so simple to actually believe it when you’re the one asking. Committing to following God’s will is a wonderful experience that should be celebrated, but it can be followed up by a good deal of guilt for not doing so sooner. Regret is something that’s difficult to overcome. And that’s why in this article, I’m going to try to spell out exactly why I believe you haven’t missed out on God’s will for your life, no matter how long it might have taken you to get onboard.

We have to start by understanding how God relates to us. Far too often, we think of God as a divine playwright. Back before time began, we think, he came up with a precise idea for how our lives are supposed to play out, and it’s our job to find the script and follow it to the letter. If we at any point stray from the script (which we all do), then we’re messing up God’s plan for our lives and making it harder and harder to get back on script. After a certain point, we’re so far from God’s design for our lives that there’s no way we’ll ever be able to get back, so there’s really no use in trying.

Does any of this sound familiar? Maybe none of us would explicitly say that we believe this sort of thing, but below the surface, this is the general sense we get from contemporary American Christianity. We have this rigid view of God and his relationship with us that basically leaves us on the brink of despair when we realize how far off course we all are. It’s enough to make one want to give up on the whole endeavor.

But the truth is that this isn’t sound theology. It doesn’t reflect the way God has related to his people throughout history, and it isn’t the way he relates to us, either. It’s a lie that holds us back from the amazing life that God has for us, and when we buy into it, we’re allowing ourselves to continue to miss out. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Because God isn’t a divine playwright waiting for us to get back on cue. He’s our partner in this journey of life, and he’s right beside us at every step, ready to show us where he wants us to go. We don’t serve a rigid, static, unsympathetic God; we serve a living, dynamic, loving God who wants nothing more than to do this life with us. That’s what the Holy Spirit does; he dwells inside of every follower of Christ, guiding them towards his perfect plan for them.

Relationality implies flexibility. We all know that when we work with other people, things don’t always go exactly the way we plan, and God knows that, too. But this sort of thing doesn’t throw God off the way it does us. When our plans go off track, we get frustrated and want to give up. God, on the other hand, is patient with us, and he’s prepared at every moment to draw us back. He sees possibilities that we could never imagine. In his infinite wisdom, he is able to bring about his purposes through us despite our imperfections.

In this way, God’s will for our lives really isn’t that different from his will for the world and history itself. We recognize that many of the things taking place in our world right now are not a part of God’s will, but we also know that in the long run, God is bending history itself back towards him and his perfect plan for the world. We can’t always see it in the day-to-day, but in the long run, God’s will is going to win out.

The same can be true in our own lives. Sure, we may look back on our stories and see a lot of things that weren’t a part of God’s plan, but that doesn’t have to be the final word. Because no matter how far you may think you’ve strayed, you are one decision away from moving back in the right direction. If you allow him, God can and will bend your story back towards his story. And there’s nothing better than being a part of God’s story.

I believe that God’s will is less like a script and more like a path. Life with God takes a lot of twists and turns, and there are times when you’ll come to a crossroads that shakes you to your core. But throughout the journey, you have the world’s best partner and guide, and if you’re listening to him, he’ll never lead you astray.

And by the way, the journey isn’t just about the destination. Like we’ve talked about before, God’s will is so much more than just the big decisions in life. It’s the everyday stuff, too. There is so much meaning, growth, and fulfillment to be found in the small steps along the journey to God’s ultimate, big-picture plan for your life, so never downplay the value of making one tiny decision that God calls you to make. You never know how what kind of impact it might have on your journey long-term.

Does all of this mean that looking back, you won’t find places where you could have done things differently? Of course not. Would your life have gone differently if you had made different decisions? Of course. And it’s perfectly natural to look back and wonder. But when we follow God’s will, we can look back on our lives and know that no matter what path we followed and where we ended up, we did it all with him by our side, and he led us exactly where he wanted us to go.

It doesn’t matter what situation you find yourself in. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, how long you’ve resisted God’s will, or how long you think you have left to follow him. No matter who you are, God has a plan for you. That plan involves serving him, loving others, and finding fulfillment in his name. And if you truly commit to partnering with him and following his plan for you, you can follow his will and find that fulfillment.

If you’re tired of wondering whether or not you made the right decisions, if you’re tired of wishing you’d done things differently, if you’re tired of fearing that you’ve missed out on God’s will, I hope this is an encouragement to you. You don’t have to wonder anymore. God has a plan for your life, and you haven’t missed out on it. He’s ready and willing to partner with you on your life’s journey. All you have to do is stop wondering and start listening. Won’t you follow him?

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Thanks so much for reading my article this week! I wanted to let you know that I've launched a Patreon campaign to give you, my readers, an opportunity to support my work directly. I'm trying to get the blog to a place where it's self-sustaining. We're getting close, and every dollar counts! So if you've enjoyed reading this blog week after week and find it meaningful, I hope you'll consider pledging and helping make this site all that it can be. You can check out the campaign here. Thank you for your consideration, and I'll see you next week for another new blog post!

You Can Support the Blog

Today, I'm launching my Patreon campaign, an opportunity for you to support my writing financially through a small monthly pledge. I've been writing on this website for six years, and I've never tried to make money off of it through ads, sponsorships, or any other means. But the reality is that this sort of work isn’t free. I put a great deal of time, energy, and money into this website, and I think it’s gotten to a point where it can become self-sustaining.

This decision was brought about my a couple of major factors. First of all, I feel like the blog is in a really good place in terms of content and following. I think that it provides enough value to enough people for it it pay for itself. I could be wrong, but I have a lot of confidence in what I’ve created and in the people who support it. Also, I’m getting married soon, which has caused me to rethink my personal finances. While it’s not a big deal for me as a single person to pour lots of money into my writing hobby, it’ll be a different story once I have a family. I’d like to set the blog up for future success by getting it to a self-sustaining point now rather than having to worry about how I’m going to keep it going later.

Which is where you come in. If you enjoy reading my articles each week and feel like they enrich your life, I’d like to ask that you consider supporting my writing financially. I understand that that’s a lot to ask, and I don’t expect that everyone who reads on a regular basis will have the means to give. But it doesn't cost much to take part, and every bit counts. If you’re able and would like to help make this blog all that it can be so that it can be enjoyed by as many people as possible, I’d really appreciate your support.

I’ve created a couple of reward tiers to make it worth your while, and if you have other ideas for ways I can make being a patron the best experience possible, I’d love to hear them. I really want this to be a way for me to connect on an even deeper level with those of you who choose to lend their support.

So thank you for reading, thank you for your support thus far, and thank you for your consideration of this new way of getting involved. And to those who decide to give, I’d like to offer an extra-special thanks. It means the world to me that so many people have chosen to take part in this little project I started so long ago, and I am so excited to see where it goes! That’s all for now. I’ll see you Tuesday for our regularly-scheduled program.

Finding God's Will

Every Christian wants to follow God’s will, right? After wasting a lot of time trying to direct our lives on our own, we finally break down and come to the conclusion that we’re not fit to be in charge of our own destinies. Someone else has to do it. And there’s only one person qualified for the job: God.

This is a great place to be. Because once we’ve given up the prideful idea that we should be the ones calling the shots, we’re ready to finally and completely give in to God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will for us. There’s only one problem, though: We don’t always know exactly what God’s will is.

So what do you do when you’re ready to follow God’s plan for your life but you don’t know where to start? Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way. Maybe you’ll find them helpful, too.

Wanting to follow God’s will is the first step, and it’s a big one.

The first thing I tell anyone when they express concern over following God’s will is this: If you’re worrying about whether or not you’re following God’s will, you’re already on the right path. Believe it or not, simply wanting to do things God’s way is a big step, even for believers. Because as much as we talk about trusting the Lord and putting his will before our own ambitions, putting that into practice is not easy.

If you’ve humbled yourself before God, admitted that you’re not fit to run your own life, and chosen his path over your own idea for the way things should be, then you’re setting yourself up for success. You’re putting God first, and he’s going to honor that in time. Not only is he going to guide you, but he’s going to guide you to a life far better than anything you could have imagined on your own. Will it look the way you expected? No. But it’ll be so much better because you’ll be exactly where you’re supposed to be: in the center of God’s will.

God’s will for you starts with the short-term.

Far too often, we think that following God’s will means figuring out the big picture: career, family, vocation, and the like. And those things are very important. But they’re not where we begin. In order to understand and follow God’s will in those big things, we have to start small.

Beginning is as simple as asking God the question, “What are you calling me to do right now?” and then doing it. He uses different means to convict us (the Holy Spirit, his word, other people, and more), but if we earnestly ask him to speak to us, he will in some form. Maybe it’s adjusting your schedule to spend more time with him. Maybe it’s treating your loved ones better. Maybe it’s rethinking your priorities and putting first what God tells us to. Whatever it is, there’s always something that God is calling us to do, and if we’ll simply stop and listen, we’ll hear it.

The truth is that following God’s will in these everyday things has a far more lasting impact on our lives than simply asking for his advice on occasion when we make big decisions. Because it’s our small, daily habits that form us into who we are. And as we learn to hear and follow God’s voice in the seemingly small things on a day-by-day basis, we find that living in tune with his will becomes a part of our very selves. It’s natural.

Mind you, we always have to be intentional about choosing God’s will over our own. But over time, like any spiritual practice, it becomes less of a struggle as we allow God to shape us into who he created for us to be. And once we’ve mastered this daily practice, we’re much more prepared to make the big decisions God’s way.

Your talents and passions are hints of God’s will for you.

When it comes to those big decisions, there’s no clear-cut, one-size-fits-all way of knowing exactly what God wants us to do. It’s different for each person. But there are some things that we can do to make understanding God’s will in the midst of those decisions easier.

Getting into the habit of listening for God’s will and following it is a good start, but what then? My suggestion is to evaluate a couple of things. First of all, what gifts has God given you? What is it that you’re good at and that makes you feel the most alive? These natural talents aren’t there simply for our enjoyment or personal gain. God gives them to us so that we can use them for his purposes. They’re a part of his calling on our lives.

Which leads to the next thing to consider: How can I use my gifts to serve others? My favorite definition of vocation is “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Because when you get down to it, that’s what we’re each called to do. We’re supposed to love others and serve God with everything we have. And in the process, we get to experience a sense of fulfillment and purpose that we can’t get anywhere else. What could possibly be better than that?

That’s why I think the best way to begin discerning God’s big-picture will for your life is to simply start serving God and others with the gifts he’s given you. God can use anyone and any gift for his glory, whether it’s music, math, muscles, or something else. And as you serve, you’ll learn what works for you and what doesn’t. Maybe you start off thinking you’ll enjoy one thing but soon find out that it isn’t for you. That’s alright; God understands, and he appreciates the effort. Try something else until you find your niche. Your place. Your calling.

At the end of the day, it comes down to this: God blesses those who earnestly seek him. Only through a daily relationship with him and a practice of serving others in his name will you be able to discern his perfect will for you. It’s a lot of work, but it’s more than worth it. Because I can tell you from personal experience that there is nothing better than living for God. There’s no better place to be than right where he wants you. He knows what’s best for us, and he wants what’s best for us if we’ll only follow him.

So if you want fulfillment, if you want peace, if you want to know that you’re doing exactly what you were made to do, follow him. In the small things and the big things, follow him. Even when it’s scary and doesn’t make a lot of sense, follow him. Even if it isn’t how you pictured your life going, follow him. Because he loves you, and he’ll never lead you astray. Follow him.

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Hey, thanks for being a reader of the blog! I wanted to let you know that this Thursday, I'll be launching a campaign to give you a chance to support this website financially through a small monthly pledge. If you enjoy these articles each week and want to help make it the best it can be, I hope you'll consider participating in this new way. You can get a preview of the campaign here and check back in a couple of days to pledge your support. I appreciate you taking the time to check it out and hope you have a great week!