Thwarted Plans, Disguised Grace

How often do we get upset when our plans or the timing of our plans are thwarted? Plans we make out of the blue, plans that were made months in advance. However the plans were made, when our plans are messed up, we become frustrated, stressed, and overwhelmed. I'm a planner. I plan way ahead. I get ahead in school. This year, God has really been teaching me how little my plans matter. That I can make all the plans and envision how it'll all play out, but ultimately, it isn't MY plan, it's His.

I used to struggle with that, still do at times. Planning makes us feel in control, but often times our planning makes us realize how little control we have. It doesn't matter how much you plan, you cannot foresee everything, and your plan will not go perfectly. In the moments that seem like our plans were thwarted, we often turn to God, not for comfort, but questioning. "That wasn't supposed to happen that way, why'd you let it? What are you doing? Why?" He gently reminds us, that was never the plan. What happened was actually the plan all along, what you're complaining about is God's way falling into place. Your complaint isn't about a thwarted plan, it's about your lack of control. How humbling is it to know that no matter what we do or how much we plan, part or all of it won't go how we expected it to. With God, it doesn't matter what YOU plan, our ultimate desire should always be His plan. This is not easy, by any means. It requires a daily... DAILY surrender and trust. And what would happen if we started viewing every "thwarted plan" or "messed up timing" as God's grace? His grace to say, I know this is what you want, but I have something better. His grace to not allow us to settle for lesser things. What if we saw it, not as a "thwarted plan," but the pieces of God's plan falling into place, the "messed up timing" as His perfect timing? It wasn't late, it wasn't early, it was perfect timing. Our steps were not misguided, but redirected towards Him. Sometimes our plans failing is the greatest gift God could give us. When our plans do fail, it's easy to fall into getting frustrated at God. We must check the position of our heart, is it aligned and in step with Him? How we react when things don't go the way we thought they would is often a good indicator of how much we are trusting and surrendering everything to Him. Our plans will fail, His never do. Our timing may be off, He's always right on time. So, rest in this, no "thwarted plan" or "missed timing" affects the trajectory of what His plan was all along.