All of us have plans, dreams and goals for our lives. However, sometimes God interrupts our best-laid plans. Understanding how to respond when our plans get put on hold when God introduces something better to our lives is important. Do we panic or do we trust? Do we hold onto our plans, or do we submit to Him?
Do you have plans for your life? Of course, you do. From the time that we’re young, we start formulating a plan for our lives. We start thinking about what we want to be when we grow up. As we get older, we even start thinking about where we want to live, the kind of spouse we want, how many kids we want, and all of the other choices associated with growing up. If you’ve already reached that phase of life, you may have plans in place that cover when you plan on retiring, where you want to spend your “golden years” and any other number of goals. Having plans is an important part of life, as it gives us something to work toward, regardless o where we are in life.
You may have heard it said that if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans. While that statement sounds funny, it’s not truly how things work. God isn’t some faraway being who laughs at the plans, hopes, dreams and aspirations of His people. However, there are times where God does interrupt our plans. Scripture is full of countless examples of Godly men and women who had one plan for their lives before God stepped in and completely changed them.
Noah
Genesis 6:13-14 (ESV)
And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
Noah was old when God told him about the coming flood. “Old” may be an understatement. Noah was over 500 years old during this interaction with God. Can you imagine being that old and finding out that God wanted you to build an ark, get your family on board and round up enough of every animal in the world so they could repopulate when the waters dropped?! Oh, and to make matters more complicated, it had never rained before.
Surely Noah had some plans in place. He had three sons and was living a relatively uneventful life, at least by comparison. However, God interrupted Noah’s plans. We don’t know much about Noah’s life before the flood, but it’s safe to assume that he wasn’t expecting a worldwide flood that required him to build a massive boat in order to save humanity and every species of animal.
Then God interrupted whatever those plans were. Noah was faced with a decision. He could’ve turned down the command to build the boat. Afterall, God gives all of His people freewill. No, Noah and his family wouldn’t have been spared from the coming flood, but he still could have refused. Look at Noah’s response:
Genesis 6:22 (ESV)
Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
In the face of interrupted plans, Noah did exactly what God commanded him to do.
Abraham
Genesis 12:1 (ESV)
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
While Abraham wasn’t as old as Noah when God told him to pack up and leave his home, he was still of a pretty advanced age. A few verses later, we find out that he was 75 years old when God gave him this command. You’d have to think at 75, Abraham (still called Abram at this point) had a pretty good idea of how the rest of his life was going to go. Undoubtedly, he and his wife, Sarai had plans about how they were going to live out the rest of their lives.
Much like Noah, Abraham was faced with a choice. He could leave his home, his friends, his relatives and move into an unknown place that God would tell him about when he got there, or he could resist. How did Abraham respond?
Genesis 12:4 (ESV)
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went wit him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
He went as the Lord told him. Abraham realized that his plans weren’t as important as God’s plans. Abraham’s faithfulness was rewarded. Over the course of the next few chapters, we find that God blessed him and his wife with a child in their old age and fulfilled a promise to him made in Genesis 12:2.
Mary
Luke 1:31 (TPT)
You will become pregnant with a baby boy, and you are to name him Jesus.
Finally, let’s take a look at Mary. We know what Mary’s plans were. She was engaged to a man named Joseph and had lived a pure lifestyle leading up to their upcoming wedding. History teaches us that Mary was probably between 14 and 16 years old during this interaction with the angel. Can you imagine the plans Mary had in place? She was going to marry Joseph, start a family in the future, and live their lives in wedded bliss. Then an angel shows up with an announcement that God has changed her plans.
When the angel told her she would become pregnant, Mary responded by pointing out the fact that she was a virgin. But God’s plan for Mary was rooted in the fact that she was “favored by God” (Luke 1:28).
What kind of “favor” is this? Mary would be the talk of the entire town. Would Joseph even believe her story? Sexual activity before marriage during this time period was actually punishable by death. Even if the guilty parties weren’t killed, they would be ostracized by everyone close to them. If anyone had a reason to reject the plan, it was Mary.
Luke 1:38 (TPT)
Then Mary responded, saying, “This is amazing! I will be a mother for the Lord! As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.” And the angel left her.
Mary embraced the change of plans because it was from God. Because of her faithfulness, she got the honor of giving birth to the Son of God.
How do we respond when God changes our plans? We embrace His will. We know that He has the big picture in mind while we only have a partial view of what’s to come. His plans for us are better than our own.
A Closing Prayer:
God, I didn’t see things working out this way, but I know that You have a plan for me. Help me to submit to Your will and the plans that You have for me. In Christ’s name, Amen.