God's Plans

If you've been around church folk at all, you've probably heard this a time or two: "God has a plan for your life." 

We say this usually to those who are lost in some way, to those who are depressed or addicted or wandering or hopeless or simply lost. Those who are alone. Those who have been abandoned. Those who have given up on themselves. "God has a plan for your life."

We say it also to those who are miracles - to those who have survived the unthinkable, who have fought the hard fights and won, who have somehow come through when so many others in their situation have not. The woman who has beaten cancer; the man who survived the scary car crash; the addict who has been sober for five years; the infertile couple now expecting their first miracle baby. "God has a plan for your life." 

It's true...but it's also not true. 

It's true that God has an idea of where your life is going, of what He wants to do with it, of how it all shakes out. But it's also true that this is not just one thing. 

I think when we keep telling folks that God has a plan for their life, we convince them that it's up to them to find that one thing that God is doing, to latch onto it, and to let that be their thing forever. 

This sets up two problematic scenarios: first, they severely stress over whether what they're finding is "the" plan or not, whether they're somehow missing it or maybe they already missed it. Second, we do not allow them to grow. If this thing that we've identified is "the" thing that God is doing with their life, then it becomes the brand they have to carry with them forever. And I'm telling you - after awhile, that kind of stuff gets heavy. 

I mean, do you really always have to be the addict? Do you always have to be the infertile? Do you always have to be the lost, the lonely, the depressed, the forgotten for God to have glory through your life? Man, what a burden to carry. 

The thing is, even the Bible tells us we're wrong about this. Even one of our most-quoted verses tells us we're wrong: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. The plans. With an S. Multiple. Not one plan, but many. (*I always like to emphasize that this verse was written not with a singular 'you,' but a plural one. We often misuse it to talk about ourselves, but it is meant to speak about all of God's people collectively.) 

Psalms further confirms this, as the psalmist cries out, You have done so many wonderful things, had so many tender thoughts toward us, Eternal my God, that go on and on, ever increasing. 

In other words, God is doing more than one wonderful thing. He has more than one tender thought. His intentions toward you are ever increasing. The things He wants to do with your life are always growing. 

God doesn't intend for you to do one thing forever, except to glorify Him. But that glorification takes many forms in many seasons, and you are not bound to the last thing God did for you forever. You are not tied to what the world says is your biggest story - victory or defeat. God has never decided that your life is one thing; it is a testimony with many chapters. 

Yes, God has a desire for your life, but within that desire are many plans. For you. For me. For us.