5 Principles to Follow as You Look to God’s Plan

I don’t know what your tradition is at the start of a new year, but I often spend some time looking back at the year that has passed and considering what God has done while I anticipate the year ahead and what God will do. This year was no different in that regard, but it was unique in the circumstances for me.

Last year, I was able to spend Christmas and New Year’s with missionary friends in Italy. As I left Italy early in January 2025, I asked the Lord what He had planned for me in 2025. I had plans for the ministry in England, and for enlarging my influence with other ministries the Lord had opened for me as well. I never expected to be sitting here one year later, making plans to leave my ministry in England, which I love with all my heart, to move to another foreign country and start all over again.

That seemingly relaxing trip to Italy was the catalyst God used to change the direction of my life and ministry. Looking back at it a year later, I am overwhelmed by God’s goodness in leading me to this point and for His gentle yet clear direction as I struggled with surrendering a place and a people that I love so much. The beauty of surrender to God’s will is that He changes our desires and our loves. I have a burden and a love for the Italian people and their need for Christ that already rivals what God gave me for England, and I have not even moved yet. There are hurdles of a new culture, language, and ministry that I face in 2026, but there is much that I am looking forward to doing for the cause of Christ and for His glory with my new team in Italy. But I am getting ahead of myself in looking ahead beyond right now.

There are so many aspects of life where we make plans. These plans are good. They are bathed in prayer, and they are the results of Godly counsel. And then suddenly, those plans change. I have been yielding my heart all year to the change of moving countries, but God has been building my faith and preparing me for a more sudden change. I had my plan all ready for 2026. I knew what it would hold with special events, some planned for years in advance, as well as factoring in this new move to Italy. Yet God chose to bring all those plans to a screeching halt when my dad was taken in for emergency open-heart bypass surgery three days before Christmas. I must admit that I was not prepared for this change. This situation turned my whole plan for 2026 on its head. After quickly preparing to leave the country, I sat on the plane for the hours of waiting, knowing that I had some things to talk to the Lord about. Why had my plans failed? Why hadn’t He blessed those plans and allowed them to go ahead as I desired? Hadn’t I surrendered enough this year? Again, I am so grateful that a compassionate God tenderly led my mind and heart to truth. In the days following my dad’s successful surgery and the commencement of his recovery, I moved out of that questioning frame of mind and found truth in God’s Word to help me in this change.

Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the LORD directeth his steps.” The truth of this verse and many others has settled in my heart in a way that I am not sure I can explain completely. However, I know this – my all-good God makes NO mistakes even when He changes my plans. I know now, as I look back at 2025 and then ahead to 2026, that I can trust the God who is already in my tomorrow, setting every aspect of my life in order. May I encourage you today that no matter what has changed in your life, it has not taken God by surprise. I still don’t know how 2026 will look and where I will be at the start of 2027, but I choose to follow these five simple principles as I look forward to His plan and not mine.

1. God can and must ALWAYS be trusted exclusively, no matter what changes. I can’t trust in Him and lean on my understanding at the same time. It must be one or the other. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
   
2. Worrying about anything is sin, so I must choose to hand these things over to the Lord in prayer and wait for Him to provide me with the peace that only He can give. (Philippians 4:6-7)
   
3. I can’t carry the burdens of these changes. I must allow the Holy Spirit to help me carry them in His strength and not my own. Casting my cares on Him doesn’t change the weight of the load, but it does enable me to carry it with His help. (1 Peter 5:7)
   
4. Despair in the unknown and the changing is not the answer. There is always a Rock higher than I to Whom I can run. (Psalm 42:11 & 61:1-4)
   
5. My faith continues to be built and deepened through genuine surrender to God’s plan and not mine. Mature faith submits to God’s will even when it is painful and doesn’t make sense. These repeated moments of surrender deepen my walk with God in a way I never imagined. (Luke 22:42b)

What other principles have you learned and leaned into as you have watched your plans change over the years? How has it built your faith? Does your look back and look ahead reveal your plans or God’s?