Not What You Expected

I grew up hearing that God had a plan for my life. I repeatedly quoted the words of Jeremiah 29:11 that said that God had a plan of prosperity for me. There was hardly a day that went by that someone didn’t speak of God’s great plan for me. I grew to believe it so deeply in my being. I just knew God had a wonderful, joyful plan for my life.

And then I got cancer at the age of 23 after a mere 6 months of marriage.

What had happened to God’s plan? This was not what I had signed up for. This did not seem at all like the prosperity that I had been promised.

The thing about God’s plan is that it is for our good. We can always trust Him simply because He’s already proven His motive toward us by dying for us. But I’ve come to learn that His plan often comes in rather unexpected ways…and by unexpected, I mean, “Help! Get me out of here!” kind-of-ways.

You may be asking yourself where God is today. It may feel as if His plan for you has been canceled out by an unexpected or undesired life experience. I can only encourage you that sometimes it is those very things that feel so far off from the plan that can actually propel us toward our intended paths. Don’t fear the hard times. Remember, God’s will often plays out in ways we would never expect, and that’s okay. It’s still His plan and it’s still something He can ultimately weave into the tapestry of a beautiful life lived full of grace and goodness.