You have heard of the saying “If you want to make God laugh,
tell Him about your plans.” (If you haven't before now, you just did.) This quote is attributed to Woody Allen, but the
idea of God disagreeing with our plans is not an original thought by Allen.
Proverbs 16:9 says “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his
steps.” (NKJV)
Today, I attended a college fair as a chaperone. The
Guidance Counselor thought it would be a good idea for us interns to chaperone
since we are still in university (for one more month!) and could provide some insight
to the students as they spoke to representatives from the various schools. I
teach/observe one senior class, and there is one student in that class. Because
there is only 1 student, I have been able to talk with and get to know him more
than other students. This particular student was on the trip, so I mostly
walked around with him and his girlfriend. Knowing what they both were
interested in, I helped them find schools that offered their majors. My student
has had his heart set on two schools for some time now, but neither of them was
at the college fair, and he was unwilling to consider any of these new schools.
I urged him to talk with representatives and get information about their
schools because he needed to have options, just in case. Reluctantly, he agreed.
As I was talking to him, I was taken back to my
senior year, when I told my guidance counselor that “I don’t need backups; I’m
going to UGA.” As I have done so many times since starting at Kennesaw, I
laughed at my ridiculousness, just the way my counselor did when I told her,
and just how God did when I told Him. I believe, however, that I can only laugh
at myself now because hindsight is 20/20. When you are 17 or 18 and getting
ready to graduate and turn the page on the next chapter of your life, you want
to have everything planned out, down to the last detail. My student does, and I
definitely did. Deciding what college to attend and what to major in are
important decisions, so it is too common for us to want to take matters into
our own hands.
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of “those” versus: the ones everyone knows
and the repetition of said verses can often cause us to overlook the importance
of them. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.” I could just
stop right there. Our plans are KNOWN by the Lord. The Creator of the universe
KNOWS the plans He has for you. Really grasping the weight of that sentence should
overwhelm us with incredible peace about our futures. Also, the use of the word
“declare” is something to note. While some translations use “said,” the word
translates the same. From the Greek “nĕ'um,” the word means “utterance;
declaration.” To me, those words are backed by confidence and strength. Not only
does the Lord KNOW our plans, but He can confidently say that; there is not wavering
back and forth on whether or not He knows them. The rest of the verse goes on
to say just what kind of plans He has in store for us. “…thoughts of peace and
not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (NKJV) This is further assurance
that we are in good hands.
You would think that after seeing how God has worked in my
life the past 4 years, proving time and time again that He knew best, that I
would be able to say with confidence that my future is not something I want to
plan on my own. Wrong. I had my own plans regarding how I was going to finish
school, but God showed up BIG in the way that He directed my steps, and you can
read about that here.
As my time in Uganda is coming to an end (19 more days!), I
am coming up on another milestone: graduating college. Again, I am laughing at
myself. Before I even boarded the plane in Atlanta, I had plans about what I was
going to do when I got back. I was so planned out, in fact, that I was so close
to passing up a great opportunity because it was not what I wanted for myself.
However, I have wiped my drawing board clean and am giving God the pen, something
He should have had the whole time.
I say all of this to say that, while I have no idea what the
future holds, I know that since God planned it, just as He has planned out every
other detail of my life, I will not be led in the wrong direction.
