A Change in Plans?

"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

We all make plans. If we go about it in the right way, we seek first the Lord, and He is the one who gives them to us. But what happens when, while following His direction, things go suddenly, very awry? What does it mean when The Plan we are confidently following, takes a sharp turn in a direction we never imagined, and suddenly The Plan is no longer clear? Have we taken a wrong step? Has our Leader forgotten to lead and left us spinning our wheels on the side of the road? Has The Plan inexplicably changed? 

Or...

Have we been looking to our own understanding for so long, that even when He gives us His Plan, we interpret it based on what we can see and make sense of? He gives us the next step, and we draw up road maps to a self determined end point, and start marking down scenic detours along the way to enhance the journey. He says "Go!" we respond in faith, but then expect the path He has set us on to look a certain way, and are surprised when our view is not as clear as we had imagined. 

Perhaps, in actuality, nothing has "changed." Perhaps The Plan has always been to follow this road, to hit these bumps, to turn here, to stop there. Is it merely our view that has changed, not The Plan itself? God knows where He is taking us. He is not surprised by the twists and turns we encounter. He is not caught off guard when we walk slower, or trip along the way. Our frailness and shortcomings are not strong enough to knock His will aside. His plan is sovereign, and when we are following Him, the plan doesn't change. We do.

We have arrived to the top of a hill, and can suddenly see a little farther ahead, and it looks different than we had imagined. But we are confident that we are still following the same God given plan. We are still on the path He set us on months and months ago, and we are still headed towards the same future that He had always intended. Step by step, day by day, year by year, He is moving us forward. I can't wait to see where He takes us. 

Stay tuned...