His Plans

We talk much about the fact that God has a plan for each of us.  Jeremiah 29:11 is an oft quoted verse in these days.  "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."  It is a Word from God which is not only a word of encouragement, but a promise.  It is also a word which requires a radical kind of faith which speaks of abandoning self for the plan of God.  The truth is His plans are not always our plans because they are not in line with the plans we have made for ourselves.  

One thing learned about the plan of God over the decades of walking with Him is that there is nothing predictable about His ways.  The way He leads is not a straight path, but one that has many surprising and unexpected twists and turns.  To abandon ourselves to His plans and His future is to be willing to live as a risk taker.  Experience has taught us that when God leads us into the future He is unfolding before us, it often means that He is going to lead us away from where we feel in control of our life to the place where  life can only be lived if He is given control.  

This is the world where "the plans I  have for you..." become visible to us.  It is, therefore, not the world of the known, but the world of faith.  The question is not the one which asks if God really does have a plan for us. The Word of God is dependable and trustworthy.  The real question is do we have the faith to walk with Him into that unknown and still not yet see plan.