Question: Does God really have a plan for my life, like I keep hearing? Often my life feels more like a bumper-car ride—continually running into one obstacle after another and getting bounced in every direction.
Answer: God does have a plan for each of us, and it is one that is tailored to our unique personality, abilities, and interests. Not only that, but He wants to let us in on that plan and work with us to bring it to pass.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6). That doesn’t mean, though, that everything will be easy or happen just as we would like. In fact, sometimes it may seem like everything God allows to come your way is difficult. Does God ever ask too much of us? Sometimes it can seem that way.
God wants what’s best for us, but often the means to that end involves us going through both triumphs and trials, joy and pain. From our perspective, a particular situation or event may not seem good, but God’s Word promises that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). He sees farther than we do, and His plans are better and more complete than ours. (See Isaiah 55:8–9.)
In the prophet Jeremiah’s time, the Israelites were defeated militarily, scattered, and in exile. They probably wondered what had happened to God’s promised plan for them as a people. God explained that they would remain in exile for 70 years, as a punishment for their waywardness. That couldn’t have been good news, but He reassured them that He continued to work on their behalf. “‘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’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).
So, if you find yourself in a situation where you feel lost and you’re wondering what became of God’s plan for you, don’t despair. As we follow God in obedience, His plan will come to pass.
If we could see, if we could know
We often say,
But God in love a veil doth throw
Across our way.
We cannot see what lies before,
And so we cling to Him the more,
He leads us till this life is o’er,
Trust and obey.
—Norman J. Clayton