Disappointment and Better Plans

THINK

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

PRAY

It seemed like such a good plan, God. I had all the details worked out and You were in it. At least I thought you were. My plan was certainly to have you play a big part. But it's falling apart. It looked like such a good, good thing. But it's not going to come to fruition. At least not the way I envisioned it. You have a better plan. I know you do. I want to walk joyfully in your will. Remind me that your plan is better. Please remind me.

ACT

Sometimes it's a little thing, a tidy "to-do" list gone awry by the pressing needs of a child. Sometimes it's a bigger thing: a canceled trip, a broken heart, or an abrupt detour on a career trajectory. We carefully craft our plans--often in elaborate detail in our imaginations--and then, it all falls apart. Stand still in the rubble of those once beautiful plans, big or small. See God in the shattered pieces. He has something so much better for you. Better than all the imagining you've done. But first you have to relinquish your plan, the one you've been holding so tightly. Let it go. Let it shatter. Leave your hands empty so that He can fill them with something He's got especially for you.

Have you ever been so sad when your plans have been upended? Bitterly disappointed? Hurt?  I recently shared some of those times here. Tell me about your plans and tell me how God had a better plan. I know someone who could use the encouragement of your stories.