Plundered Plans or Prosperous Alternatives?

"They say, if you wanna make God laugh, all you've gotta do is tell Him your plans." - Clay Aiken

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It's funny. People keep asking me the same question over and over again lately...what do you want to do when you finish college? What are you doing with your life? What are your career plans? What about the future...? What do you want to be when you get older? -- Okay, hold the phone. Older? I feel like I'm five years old and people expect me to respond with "doctor/surgeon," "lawyer," "firefighter" or any other cool stereotype.

What I want, honestly is to not be faced with knowing what the future holds.  Walls are concrete objects, tangible and touchable. My future is not quite so - it's an idea, a concept...something I am striving to become or to achieve. Right now, though the good news is that I can do exactly what I want to do and figure it out as I go along.  What you have to understand about me saying that is that I am a planner; as laid back as I can be, I need to know exactly what's happening, when and why it will take place and what part I play in that situation.  I worry about little things, but, I don't worry about my future...you see, God has that all planned out for me.

Okay, so I know some of you are probably reading this going...well, I'm going to stop reading because this is about to become a post about God. Well, sorry, no consolation here, friends. I warned you. You see, that's just it.  God is the goal, God is the future. For all of you who keep nagging me about what I want to do in life, that's easy. Glorify God. What I want to be when I get older, you say? Well, here's the answer. God is what I want to be like when I get older. 

To be honest, I hope you read the rest of what I have to say if you stopped here...when I heard this, it began to change my life.



Jeremiah 29:11-14For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.

See, I don't know what I am doing. I know that I am graduating in May, finishing my undergraduate/Bachelor's Degree in August and then Lord willing, getting a Master's Degree in Ministry.  See, that is God's plan. I know this because I know the person I used to be...and I know she would have NEVER agreed to any of this given the choice. This isn't the life I ever envisioned for myself. I wanted to be married, have started a family and settle by the time I graduated from college. To top it off, I probably would have worked in some mediocre 9-5 job not really making a true difference. Well, since all that isn't happening, clearly Someone had better plans - ones that made a whole lot more sense, and it wasn't me. See, I talked about being a child earlier - and we are God's children, so when we seek him wholeheartedly, he makes the game of hide and seek easy - he leaves breadcrumbs, because he wants us to find him! He even represents the light! God isn't going to go hide in some dark, musty clothes closet. That's just not who He is.  

So, I don't know where the wind may blow me two years from now, and what God has in store, but I do know two other things.  This peace of being uncertain - that comes by FAITH STEPS, and it's not easy, but it is so rewarding. 

Secondly, I'll leave you with a thought - could we ever truly know for certain where the wind will blow us? Can we predict that accurately 100% of the time? Can we tell it where to go?...I don't think it listens very well....so...here's my "Food for Thought." 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT (John 4:32):

John 3:8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Let the Spirit inside of you lead you to the answers no matter what life brings, even in transition.  And if you don't have the Spirit inside of you...what are you waiting for? :)