Living Out The Plan

There’s got to be one. A plan that is  – for my life and yours, otherwise why are we still occupying precious space on this crazy earth, breathing without effort. If there was a Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve, a head-strong mother and a wicker basket set among the reeds in the crocodile-ridden Nile river for Moses, and the *Magi who fascinated by a lone star in the sky, travelled thousands of miles laden with gifts for a baby boy born in a filthy manger, surely God designed a unique destiny for each of us before we showed up wrinkled, loud and cranky.

Some have retained those loud and cranky traits because sometimes, life simply sucks! On a conscious level we acknowledge the strain of our journey but it helps to go deeper and not stay at the level of frustration when our carefully crafted plans crumble. There is this inner gnawing, an acute distress and emptiness when we are not living out the plan. God has a good plan, for each person as unique and distinct as our fingerprints to bring us out into a wealthy place. (Psalm 66:12)

My loving mother was always ahead of the times. In elementary  school, she got us monogrammed tee-shirts. This was the eighties, so it was a big deal. I don’t know if any of my four siblings remember that afternoon surprise, but the message on my shirt – Future Hope  –  stuck with me. Mom was inspired by the promise that God’s plan for us are good and leads us to an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Remember that as God’s children we are not left to figure out or do life on our own – that helps put our successes and even failures in the right perspective. We can live out His plan for us if we:

• Connect with the Source of our life-plan – time spent with God either in prayer, worship or meditation is never a waste. Looking back I wonder how much pain I could have avoided if I just sought His way and ideas first (Matthew 6:33). God should not be our last resort.
• Build up faith by considering His word and promises – the game of life is won or lost not based on the events themselves but on our interpretation of them. Whose opinion or report will you believe?
• Trust and obey – sometimes like Moses, we’ll be instructed by God to grab a proverbial snake by the tail. God’s ways are unusual, mysterious, creative but always in line with His word.

God leads by revelation and illumination, we learn by experience.  We’ll sometimes fail but are not left to pick up the pieces alone.  In living out the plan, there’s more than at stake than what we see or perceive – it’s about changing  the world.  Someone on assignment is the one making a difference.
For more resources about living out the plan for your life, check out Rick Warren’s books – “The Purpose Driven Life” and “What On Earth Am I Here For?” Shalom.

*Magi – the “wise men” from the East who brought gifts to the infant Jesus (Matt. 2:1), said in later tradition to be kings named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Images: Pixabay/Google.