We had a plan.

Emphasis on we, meaning hubby & me. I’d reach a certain age, retire, then work in our business. It was a good plan, we thought. But it didn’t quite happen that way.

Things changed at the company I worked for and the above plan launched too soon.

Because the original plan didn’t go as planned, things happened we hadn’t planned on.

Has this happened to you?

We can make all the plans we want and planning is a good thing. But we have to accept our plans may change because of circumstances beyond our control or choices we make along the way.

Or both.

After years of doubting, I can clearly see the plan we hadn’t planned on is a better one. The new plan is better because it’s God’s. I know this because I never could have dreamed up the series of events on my own. They weren’t random in the least.

Another reason why I know God was definitely in the new plan? I prayed fervently for direction.

So what happens to the plans we make and the dreams we have? Are they meaningless and null and void if God has already made our plans?

Be encouraged. Scripture provides the answers:

Without counsel, plans go awry,
But in the multitude of counselors they are established.  Proverbs 15:22 NKJV

God directs us to seek wise counsel in our plans.

Commit your works to the Lord
And your plans will be established.  Proverbs 16:3 NASB 

God directs us to commit our works and thoughts to Him. When we walk in His will our plans will be fruitful and established. The NLT versions says our plans will succeed.

 In their hearts humans plan their course,
 but the Lord establishes their steps.  Proverbs 16:9 NIV

Our plans will do well when our ultimate goal is to please God. Sounds easy except for one thing.

We’re human. We can’t always trust our hearts to do the right thing.

I don’t know about you, but for years the ultimate goals of my plans were to benefit me. I wasn’t focusing on how my plans were going to please God. What a win-win when we set our goals on pleasing God, because when we do, our benefits are far more than we could dream up on our own.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.  Proverbs 3:6 NKJV

When we trust God and acknowledge Him in all our ways, He directs us in the way we should go (or not go). He won’t have us doing a U-Turn in the middle of nowhere or drive us off a cliff like that GPS we place so much trust in.

The most well-known and quoted scripture on plans is Jeremiah 29:11. What plans does God have for us? A future and a hope. Plans for no evil or calamity, but for peace and for our welfare.

How should we make our plans going forward? Here are a few options:

• Seek God. Plan. Succeed.
• Plan. Fail. Seek God to fix it.
• Plan. Succeed by world’s standards. Don’t include God and we won’t know what we’re missing.

We wonder why there are people who never seek God, may not even believe in God, yet appear successful and lacking nothing. It can seem that way when we base success on the standards of this world.

But I don’t want to be in the “don’t know what we’re missing” community. If we miss seeking God and including Him in our plans, we’ll always feel there has to be more. We’ll always want more. There will always be something, or rather Someone, missing.

Therein lies the lacking of those who seem to lack for nothing. A misdirected hunger for things of this world.

When we hunger for God, He can satisfy like nothing else can.

To You Lord, we commit every single step.

Let’s invite God into the beginning of our plans. Let’s map out our plans with the ultimate goal of pleasing Him instead of pleasing ourselves because when we do, we will be delightfully surprised.

Let’s make pleasing God our ultimate plan in life.

What are your thoughts? Have you experienced a change in plans?