Life, according to Green Day, is about giving up when it gets too hard. Lay down your arms, give up the fight. If "Plan A" goes up in flames, surrender and count your losses. Because really, who wants to resort to "Plan B"?
My life is a story of Plan Bs, Cs, Ds... Plan A died long ago when, as a child, things didn't go the way I thought they would. Plan B died in high school. Plan C in college. Plan D a little over a year ago. So the question becomes, if Plan A fails, is God done with you? Isn't Plan A the best plan and when that fails, haven't you messed up your life just a little too much?
Well, not exactly. If you look at biblical history, a lot of Plan As failed. Plan A for Adam and Eve was to spend forever, perfect, in the Garden of Eden. Plan A was for Esau to get the blessing. Plan A was for Joseph to live it up, the favorite son. Plan A was for the Hebrews to get out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. But somewhere along the line, Plan A failed.
God is the God of Plan B... or C or D, because our plans often fail miserably. I had life all figured out, multiple times. But just because those didn't work out, doesn't mean that God stopped working on me. God works through our failures, however many there are, it's called redemption.
The thing to keep in mind, is that God isn't bound to our plans. He works through our choices, around them, over them, but ultimately, it's his plan that succeeds.
Giving up the driver's seat is hard. Especially when we think our plan is perfect. But the best thing for us to do is let go. Right now. Wherever you're at in your Plan H or N or Z, just stop. Stay right where you are, in your land of broken plans. Like God told the Israelites in Jeremiah 29:4-11, stay in exile in Babylon, because he has plans that he is working out. He has the whole picture.
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." - Ps. 27:14
