What to Do When Plans Don’t Go My Way

Life is full of changes and things that don’t go the way we expect. That’s just part of it. I didn’t expect to move from one house to another in a foreign country with my family on the other side of the globe, but that is just how it goes sometimes.

Just because life doesn’t go my way doesn’t mean that it’s bad for me either. If we look at Scripture, there are many times that life didn’t go the way people planned.

Did Moses plan to live in Pharoah’s house and then cross the Red Sea and wander in the wilderness for 40 years?

Did Jeremiah plan to be known as the weeping prophet?

Did Mary plan to be the virgin mother of Jesus?

Did Paul plan several imprisonments and eventual martyrdom?

Did John plan to write of the visions he saw while in exile on Patmos?

I can venture to answer no to all those questions and many others like them. But I can also say that God used each one of those people and many more to do His will right where He placed them!

​I once heard a missionary wife give a challenge concerning the difficulty of a missionary’s life as things don’t always go according to “the plan” that we have for our lives. My heart was challenged by a few simple truths that will hopefully help you and me face the outcome of God’s plans for our lives when they don’t turn out the way we expect them to.

1. Be thankful.
   1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Even when things are not going my way, I must be thankful for what the Lord is doing in my life. I don’t know what is best for me, so I have to trust God to know what is best for me. He doesn’t send me anything that is BAD for me, so I need to be thankful for ALL that He sends my way even when it “messes up my plans.”
   
   
2. Be content.
   Philippians 4:11 – “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” When plans change to something unexpected, I need to learn to be content. Paul was clearly content as he wrote these words from a prison cell!  Would you be content if you were chained in prison for no substantial reason? The plan doesn’t always work out, but I must learn to be content with the Lord.
   
   
3. Be on time for ministry opportunities.
   Psalm 118:24 – “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Some days seem impossible when the task of serving our Lord and following His plan lies before us. It would be easy when plans change to throw in the towel and find an easier path to follow. However, if I am late in the ministry opportunities that God has planned for me, I will miss the rejoicing that comes along with pleasing Him with my service.

How are your plans going? Don’t let a change in plans sway you from your goal—Please the Lord first and foremost! He will work out the plans for your best and for His glory!