We Can’t Out-Plan God

This is the third blog post I’ve written in the past twelve hours. I thought I had a great plan. The words had been flowing through my mind for the past couple of weeks, and I was going to write about social media influencers and our kids’ fascination with them. I even had some great one-liners for our publishers to tweet and make into pretty Instagram images. It was all laid out—until I sat down to put the words on paper.

What came out sounded more like a lecture and hatred of social media than a gentle reminder about who should influence us and whom we might be influencing. Nobody likes a know-it-all, so I decided to take a new direction.

Plans are funny like that, aren’t they? We have specific ideas about how things will go, but then life happens and even our most well-thought-out schemes crumble to the ground.

I’m a born planner. I love lists. Creating weekly schedules, meal plans, grocery lists, and budgets are some of my favorite household tasks. Give me a party to plan! Going on vacation? I’d love to create your itinerary and packing list for you! I tend to be happiest when I have something in the works.

Some might call my planning habit an obsession, and they’re right. Sometimes I over-plan or fixate on an event when I’m especially worried. Last year, my daughter had to have ACL surgery. I laid awake every night for weeks, planning how we would get her home from the hospital. I visualized us lifting her into the back of my minivan just so and getting her out the same way but in reverse. I imagined us perfectly placing her into bed after carrying her up to our second-story apartment. I worried about every tiny detail. My plan worked, but it was fueled by fear and worry, and that isn’t the purpose of planning.

What goes up must come down.

Less than half of my best-laid plans work out exactly as I hope they will. And when my timing is off, or the schedule doesn’t line up, or I don’t get the job, or the cupcakes I decorated don’t look like the picture on Pinterest, I beat myself up. I become not so nice to those around me, and that makes things even worse.

Our family’s life has taken a dramatic turn. Two months ago, we lived in Kansas. Today, we live in Korea. This wasn’t even close to part of our plan. We wanted to move closer to home, not to a new continent. I planned to be within driving distance of my parents and getting to know my nieces and nephews, attending their birthday parties and soccer games. I planned to be the sister I really want to be by showing up when life got rough. But those plans came crashing down as soon as my soldier husband received orders.

However, God is showing me something through this move, as he has shown me a million times before. His plan is always better than anything I can plan for myself. Because this Korea assignment was such a surprise to our family, I believe with all my soul that God has a plan for us while we’re here. That there’s a reason he hasn’t given me a job yet and a reason we live in this neighborhood and are meeting these people. He is laying the foundation of our time here, so we can glorify him in a new place.

Whenever my plans go to pot, I’m reminded of Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (NIV). My obsession with planning is leaning on my own understanding. If I don’t relinquish my plans to God, I’m taking a much more crooked path than the one he originally set me on. My own understanding is microscopic when compared to the wisdom of the creator of the universe.

Do the verses above tell me to stop planning altogether? No way! They just remind me I’m not the one in control and that I’m not supposed to be! As much as I fixate on the details, God will always be better at planning than I am, and he has much more information than I do. There’s a lot of freedom in not having to be the one in charge. Proverbs 19:21 says it best: “We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God’s purpose prevails” (MSG). His purpose will be fulfilled either through me or in spite of me. I get to choose whether my plans are more important to me than his are.

Do you have some irons in the fire? Maybe you’re a teacher who’s designing some great fall-themed lesson plans or an incredibly organized person who’s already Christmas shopping. Maybe you’re planning a memorial for a loved one or even your own wedding. I pray that you remember God is in the details. He knows and loves you intimately, and following his path will always lead you closer to fulfilling his purpose for you. No number of lists in the world can out-plan the grace of the One who made you.

Becky Yurisich is a full-time Army wife and mom, and an occasional teacher of first graders. She is an unapologetic follower of Jesus and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Becky holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from UNC, and dreams of writing a book. She blogs at beckyyurisich.com.

Photograph © Noemí Jiménez, used with permission