Exactly How it's Supposed to Be

A teacher once told me that God had a plan for me.  That was about 20 years ago, when a small town teacher could make a religious comment and not lose her job.  The nation still respected your freedom of religion and didn't constantly beat you with a freedom from religion.  (That's a conversation for another day.)

I liked knowing God had a plan for me.   I kept my eyes open, waiting for that grand plan to be revealed.  I'm still waiting.  I once really loved "God has a plan."  But now, I think it's, well, stupid. 

Have you noticed when people use this old adage it's usually to justify some terrible decision they've made?  Or when an unfortunate or untimely death occurs?  Or to give reason to the unreasonable? 

Listen, people, sometimes shitty things happen for no reason at all. Or for humanly reasons, completely unconnected with the Lord. Or, my favorite reason, because God stands back and allows us to make our own decisions and feel pain.  

Yes, God has plans for each of us.  We don't know these plans.  However, we can keep our eyes open, listen with our hearts, and look for signs of what He wants from/for us.  

But how many of us do that?  Don't we typically get in the way?  We do what we want without thought of the consequences.  We become obsessed with what feels good in the present and give little thought to our futures.  We ignore our limitations.  

Grown adults make incredibly childish, selfish, stupid decisions.  We say it was an accident and throw out "God's plan" to justify what was really a natural consequence of poor judgment.  God will let you fail and give you space to find Him, to hear Him, to succeed.  Don't get in the way of that.  Don't miss your chance to be new again. 

(*Warning:  the video link features footage from The Passion of the Christ.  It is graphic and may not be suitable for children.)