{"id":6747,"date":"2019-08-13T18:17:59","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T18:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rosesweet.com\/?p=6747"},"modified":"2022-07-16T19:35:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T19:35:14","slug":"god-has-no-plan-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rosesweet.com\/god-has-no-plan-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"God has no plan for you"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not if you mean an exhaustive set of detailed schematics that he personally decided for you<\/em> before you were born and that you must constantly sweat to discover or be doomed. Let me explain:<\/p>\n

Plans are necessary for building your life<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In the early 1970\u2019s I began a thirty-year career as a commercial real estate appraiser. I\u2019ll never forget the first time I unrolled construction plans for a proposed pre-school building I had been hired to evaluate.<\/p>\n

The first large page was the \u201cSite Plan\u201d, showing the overhead street, land, building, and playground layout. It still smelled of fragrant blueprint ink.<\/p>\n

The next sheet was the \u201cElevation Plan\u201d showing a street view what the finished property would look like. Then came the grading and compaction plan that would result in a level lot with adequate drainage.<\/p>\n

After that was the “Foundation Plan”, with details of the concrete slab and footings. Then individual specification sheets for electrical, plumbing, framing, roof, gutters and downspouts, doors and windows, flooring, stucco siding, landscaping, walls, gates, fences, and more.<\/p>\n

Whew<\/em>! Every little detail was laid out on paper by architects, engineers, and other professionals so that no mistake could be made. Plans make it easy for the contractor; he doesn\u2019t have to think, decide, calculate estimate, wonder, guess, or take any risk. He simply must stay within what the experts had already laid out.<\/p>\n

We want God’s plans when we are lost<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Sometimes, when we feel confident, have enough money, and the future looks rosy, we don\u2019t need or want detailed, spelled-out, “rigid” plans. We don’t want anyone telling us what to do (maybe even God). We value our FREEDOM.<\/p>\n

But when we are lost, overwhelmed with responsibilities, are in pain from failed efforts and relationships, or just want to avoid hard work, we want God to figure it all out for us. Why can\u2019t he just tell me what to do? Then we\u00a0want detailed blueprints<\/em>! We want SECURITY.<\/p>\n

Since I help people with their broken relationships I often hear them assign their problems to being part of God\u2019s grand-but-miserable master scheme over which they have no control:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so sure God brought us together<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe this divorce\/addiction\/abuse\/failure is all part of God\u2019s plan<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was Catholic. I thought that was a sign from God<\/strong> that I was to marry him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was it really God’s Plan?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Often the situations in which we find ourselves, and the pain that comes with them, were never God’s plan. Even though he knows ahead what we will do, or what others will do to us, that does not mean he chose or orchestrated it.<\/p>\n

He never chooses or wishes evil upon us, but he does allow it to protect that precious, powerful, and terrible gift of FREE WILL.\u00a0 We live in a broken world and, knowing that and loving us, he promises that if we will come to him<\/em> he will bring something beautiful and good from the evil we cause or that befalls us.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll always live within that tension between freedom and security. In tough times, it\u2019s appealing to believe God has detailed drawings of the best place we should live, when we should move, whether we should marry or not, and whom we should marry, what job we should take, how many children we should have, and all the other difficult decisions that weigh us down. All we would have to do\u2014like the contractor\u2014is follow the plans.<\/p>\n

God does have a plan for you<\/strong><\/h4>\n

But God wants us to exercise our freedom, too.\u00a0 God\u2019s plan is a combination of both freedom and security\u2014like the popular preschool playground study:<\/p>\n

Children who played in an area with no visible fence stayed close to the playground equipment and teacher, wary of an avoiding the larger playground for what dangers may have lurked out there.<\/p>\n

Children who had and could see the fence knew that it kept them safe from strangers, dogs, or cars and, feeling secure<\/em>, they had more freedom to explore and enjoy the larger play area. Right up to the fence\u2019s edge!<\/p>\n

God\u2019s plan includes his rules<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Rules, regulations, and fences provide security which increases freedom\u2014and peace. God\u2019s laws and his Church\u2019s precepts all set healthy boundaries for living.\u00a0 Within those, there is still lots of room for freedom, individuality, and diversity to play.<\/p>\n

Of course we need to rely on God, but fear and a lack of trust or understanding, however, can keep us clinging to the teacher\u2019s skirts\u2014or asking God to show us every little step of the way we should go. Yes, he\u2019s limited where we play, but (outside of special circumstances) he won\u2019t then micro-manage us to which swings to use or monkey bars to climb. He wants us to choose.<\/p>\n

Do you want to know what God\u2019s plan is for you? It\u2019s to stay within the fence he has erected but to have freedom and fun inside of it!<\/p>\n

Here are ten truths about God\u2019s plan<\/strong>:<\/h4>\n
( 1 ) He has already shown us his big plan.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Know him, love him, serve him now so that we can he happy with him in heaven forever. Boom! There\u2019s God\u2019s 3-point plan for everyone, allowing for individual freedom of expression and diversity in gifts. The Church helps us know him. The Holy Spirit helps us love him. When those happen, then our natural desire will be to serve him in a myriad of ways.<\/p>\n

( 2 ) He wants us to make decisions.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

God won\u2019t do all our work because it would deprive us of greater goods. Parents stop handfeeding, bathing, and dressing their children not because they don\u2019t love them, but because there is important, satisfying work to be done and life\u2019s joy to be discovered.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to have to wrestle with some tough decisions, like:<\/p>\n

There is no single \u201csoul mate.\u201d<\/em> There may be many people who would make a good spouse for you\u2014within prudent boundaries he wants you to be free to choose who most delights you!\u00a0 Soul mates are forged in long-time authentic commitment and love.<\/p>\n

There is no perfect job or house<\/em>. Each will come with trials, temptations, and difficulties. Following his general guidelines, he wants us to enjoy choosing what suits, excites, or delights us.\u00a0 He wants us to take a \u201cleap of faith!\u201d<\/p>\n

With freedom, there will be occasional doubt<\/em>. Sometimes you\u2019ll fall or get lost.\u00a0 Yes, sometimes an \u201cangel\u201d will appear with a detailed map to help you out of your predicament but most of the time God will simply point you back to True North and allow you time and freedom to find your way back.<\/p>\n

( 3 ) His knowing is not the same as his deciding.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Some people quote Jeremiah 29:11: \u201cFor I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though God knows everything you\u2019ll do in life it doesn\u2019t mean he plans it all. That would make him a puppet master and deprive us of freedom to choose authentic love and holiness.\u00a0 I knew my kindergartener would eventually fall on the playground and get hurt, but I sent him to school anyway. I knew my teens would get likely drunk and skip classes, but I sent them to college anyway. I didn\u2019t want those things for my children\u2014and tried to train and caution them\u2014but out of love and remembering the greater picture I allowed their freedom.<\/p>\n

( 4 ) He never plans to abandon us.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

His giving us freedom, pushing us out on our own, and letting go is not abandoning us\u2014even if we feel like it. We are never alone or without the help and strength we need from him. What did he tell us? His grace is sufficient for us.<\/em>\u00a0 He will never leave us or forsake us (<\/em>Hebrews 13:15). We simply need to go back to what we know and not on what we feel for the moment.<\/p>\n

\u00a0( 5 ) His plan is to bring greater good from our failures.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

God\u2019s \u201cperfect\u201d will does not desire evil; his \u201cpermissive\u201d will (plan), however, grants us the freedom to choose and the promise to bring greater good from the evil if we turn back to him. If you sin, repent and confess. Get back on track. Choose to go higher . . . and watch God bring something good from your failures regardless of the natural consequences you or others may have to endure.<\/p>\n

( 6 ) His plans are broad and preserve our freedom.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

God gave Moses only ten commandments and then Jesus summed them into two: love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:30-31)\u00a0 But the Israelites\u2014who wanted the easy, all-spelled-out-so-we-don\u2019t-have-to-think set of blueprints\u2014turned them into 613 rules. Broad plans leave room for appropriate freedom.<\/p>\n

( 7 ) His plan never contradicts common sense and good judgment.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

We are rational beings; God has given us gifts of free will, intellect, intuition, and instinct. Emotions are a gift, too, but they can be damaged and given too much weight when we\u2019re making decisions. Other gifts include mental and physical abilities, temperament, imagination, and all that makes us \u201cmade in his image.\u201d\u00a0 His plan is that we exercise that freedom and use those gifts to invest in and create a good life . . . within the bounds he has set for our safety and happiness.\u00a0 The parable of the \u201ctalents\u201d is not just about money but how we use the brains God gave us.<\/p>\n

Jiminy Cricket says to \u201calways let your conscience be your guide\u201d, and the Church says we\u2019d better have a well-formed conscience first!\u00a0 (CCC 1783)<\/p>\n

St. Ignatius of Loyola says in his Spiritual Exercises: don\u2019t act on impulse either when too elated or too depressed; make major decisions at times of peace and emotional balance.<\/p>\n

Even Weight Watchers has sound advice: \u201cHALT!\u201d Never make big decisions when you are too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.<\/p>\n

( 8 ) His plan is that we develop virtue.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

He wants us to receive his gifts of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance; to pray, to examine the Scriptures, and seek wise and holy counsel, but not from those who will \u201ctickle your ears.\u201d Pay attention to normal obstacles. If it\u2019s unlawful, excessive, you can\u2019t afford it, it would be using someone, depriving someone of something necessary or good, or putting yourself or others at risk, it\u2019s probably selfish, sinful, and not part of God\u2019s \u201cplan\u201d for you.<\/p>\n

( 9 ) He wants us to take up our cross.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

God wants us to freely choose to share with him in everything\u2014including the cross.\u00a0 In Colossians 1:24, Paul reminds us that we complete what is lacking in Christ\u2019s suffering and death. Thus, part of God\u2019s plan is that once we know and love him we also enter into and discover the joys and sufferings of his saving work\u2014and not just going to church, giving alms, and thinking about retiring with a big, fat pension. (Although there is nothing subjectively wrong with a big, fat pension!) Sacrifice for the greater good is the essence of holiness, which leads to true happiness, and the opportunity for it is in every time, place, and situation.<\/p>\n

(10) He takes pleasure in our preferences.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

God wants us to make plans that appeal to our hearts\u2014if we are meeting the basics first. Remember your school art projects? In kindergarten, maybe you all got the same snowman to color because you had to first master staying in the lines and carefully using scissors. But later, the teacher gave you lots of blank paper, paint, glue, or glitter and let you<\/em> decide what to make. She encouraged you<\/em> plan, create, and work to make something beautiful\u2014or clever, zany, quirky, cute, majestic, or mysterious\u2014of your materials.<\/p>\n

God also takes great delight when we use what we have and what life has to offer\u2014even in adversity\u2014to make something beautiful for him. It isn\u2019t always easy. We will fail. But with each failure can come wisdom, strength, and a renewed love for and trust in God.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when our<\/em> plans share in his<\/em> divine plan.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,71],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGod has no plan for you - Rose Sweet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you want to know God's plan for your life? 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