Lord, You are perfect in all of Your ways
So perfect in all of Your ways, 
You are perfect in all of Your ways to us. 

“Good , Good Father”  by Chris Tomlin

 

Do the circumstances you are facing right now feel perfect to you? Does your life look exactly how you planned it would look like? (Mine surely doesn’t! LOL.)

Are there things you wished would have happened (or not happened) that leave you wondering what God’s ultimate plan really is?

Me too.

So often we try to meticulously plan every event that will happen in our lives, only to find that we have no real control at all.

[When I was 17, I came up with a life plan that I was convinced would happen and it would fulfill all of my heart’s desires piece by piece. Go to college at 18. Meet the man of my dreams at 20. Get married at 25. Graduate with my doctorate at 27. Also have my first baby at 27 (literally, what was I thinking?). Second baby at 29. Hawaii at 30. I had it all set. I had NO idea that God would not fulfill anything I originally dreamed of. I had NO idea that I would become seriously ill at the age of 20 (stay tuned for another post about my journey through my disease). I had no idea that at now 30 years old, I would still be single and waiting (finally content, go figure) for whatever God has planned for me. I just had no idea what that next decade of my life would bring at all.]

I had no idea because I am not God. I am not in charge. I am not sovereign over anything. It’s a scary feeling. Its leaves us feeling lost at times, and defeated, disappointed and even alone. Questioning if God really sees our pain at all.

But…As you read this post today, you’re going to find that everything our human minds try to tell us about those prayers in the waiting, is wrong. 100 percent wrong. God’s will IS perfect. His way IS perfect. And I’m finding that even the pain and heartache is perfect too. And instead of feeling fear that I can’t will things to happen in my life, I take heart and find COMFORT in the fact that the Creator of all things is in charge of my life. I don’t have to worry about being outside of my own will, because when I rest in HIS will, I am so perfectly content and cared for. He doesn’t let anything touch my life that hasn’t already passed through His hands.

The heart of man plans his way,
    but the Lord establishes his steps.  – Proverbs 16:9

I think I tried to plan out my life because I truly lacked the understanding at the time that God had it under control. I thought I knew what was best. I thought my desires were important enough for God to hear my cries and fulfill my deepest wants in life [and don’t misunderstand, your desires ARE important and God sees and hears them all. The Bible tells us that He will fulfill those desires “according to His will” (1 John 5:14)]. But He loved me more than that. He loves me more than the simplicity of my desires. He wants more for me than that. And if those events I so desperately wanted are meant to happen to me, they will happen to me, and nothing I can do or not do will stop the will of God. Rest in that assurance, my friends. You are NOT that powerful. God is.

As I thought about this deeper, I thought of all the things I had accomplished in GOD’S will, that deviated from my “perfect plan”. Over the last ten years, God has used my career in mental health to reach thousands of families and children in poverty and pain. It has become my ministry to bring the love and mercy of Jesus to hurting children (#makeHisnameknown). He has also allowed me to face a disease with no answers (until recently), and use this trial as a physical testimony to how good He is, how in control He is, and how He will never stop chasing after us. Oh, what joy comes from praising a God for what He has YET to do.

I know sometimes we feel like our prayers aren’t being heard, or God is on MAJOR delay. I can promise you He is not. Not just because I know His Word tells us otherwise, but because I know from His Hand on my life. The way He has specifically orchestrated things to happen or not happen. His provision. His protection. All of it. He has shown me that even when the answer to my prayer is NO, or WAIT, I am still loved. I am still seen. I am still heard. And He loves me more than what I think I want or need. He promises me that He alone is enough. And through trusting in Him, I know I lack nothing.

“If I have You and nothing else, I have everything”.

– “If I Have You” by Vertical Worship

So if you feel your life isn’t panning out the way you imagined, just know, you’re in very good company. And that is because we are not an all-powerful, all-knowing God. We are human. We are meant to FOLLOW His plan. So take a breath, and lay all of your wants and needs at the feet of Jesus. And remember this simple truth…He loves you. He desires no harm to come to you. He wants to prosper you.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  – Jeremiah 29:11

“Letting go of every single dream,
I lay each one down at Your feet.
Every moment of my wondering, 
Never changes what You see.

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move, 
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through, 
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You,
I will trust
I will trust
I will trust in YOU.”

“Trust in You” by Lauren Daigle

 

May the next ten years bring as many moments as the last have where I am in complete awe and wonder at the magnitude of God’s power and love. Where my plans are beautifully wrecked for His glory. I pray the same joy over your life, no matter what you might be facing or what hasn’t happened yet. God is faithful to His promises, His plan is better, and His NO’s have LOVE written all over them.