A Wonderful Plan???

Have you ever heard someone say, “God has a wonderful plan for your life”?  The idea of God having a wonderful plan for each and every one of our lives, filled with love and goodness, may seem logical at first glance, knowing that God is loving, omnipotent, and omniscient.  We know from passages like Psalm 139 that before He made anything else, He knew exactly what you and I would be like, and had a plan for each of our lives.  But, as nice as that phrase may sound, it is simply not true.

The truth is that although you were created with a specific purpose by Someone Who loves you enough to die for you, we live in a fallen world corrupted by our own sin.  No Christian would ever hesitate to say that Paul was an incredible Christian, and Paul himself even wrote to imitate him.  However, if you were to think of someone like Paul or Peter as an ideal Christian, please realize that their lives were a very far cry from what most people would esteem as “wonderful”: being imprisoned multiple times, stoned, mocked, beaten, derided, hunted, and finally cruelly killed.  Being a Christian is not a fun and easy ride to Heaven; rather, being a Christian in the world is a battle.  Yes, there will be a “wonderful plan” in the life of a Christian eventually, but not until we battle on rough terrain.

If you still like the phrase, perhaps using the word “amazing” rather than “wonderful” would be more truthful.  If you commit your life to Christ, it is going to be an amazing adventure, but may take many different forms.  Having an amazing life in Christ does not necessarily mean that you pack up all your possessions and move to a third-world country where make a difference in the lives of many people; instead, it could mean simply doing God’s bidding right now  and right where you are, just obeying and letting Him completely control your life.  I find comfort in knowing God and knowing that He had my life all figured out, start to finish, before He made the stars I like to look at and dream about my future. But, amazing is not easy.  Quite frankly, sometimes the daily things wear me down and keep me going long into the night, and sometimes life just stinks.  But no matter what happens in this world, I know it’s not really where I belong, but that I am simply on a mission here as a beacon of light, reflected from Christ.