Living on His Plans

When people talk about how they can’t wait for life to return to “normal”, I mentally stand on the other side thinking: ‘but I’m not 100% okay with the old kind of normal, the pre-covid normal…What changes do I want to see made within my family for our “future normal”…What is it that I want to grasp as a spiritually beneficial takeaway from this unique time?’…Because I don’t want to revert back to my Alicia’s world, impatient, on the go self when things do return to “normal”…my true colors usually show up best with a well thought out detailed itinerary…that’s part of my control girl flaw.

I’m trying to figure out how to mesh this current lifestyle (the things I’ve learned during my coronavirus-downtime) with what’s to come when life eventually does return to “fast-paced normal”…and the idea of loosening my firm grip on ‘itinerary-style-planning’ definitely needs to be part of a wiser planning method for myself.

We’ve all seen firsthand now how things can dramatically change in a matter of day to day living.

I have to laugh in spite of myself — back in late February, before I even knew the word coronavirus existed, I had sat down at my kitchen table and counted through my calendar all the days that I had marked down to substitute teach, and there were many. And in my eyes I was seeing dollar signs and the amount of money that I’d be able to tuck into savings to put towards a trip our family has/had scheduled this summer. In the midst of counting sub days I literally thought of how foolish it seemed because subconsciously I knew something could come up and any of those days could be taken from me, none of them were necessarily ever guaranteed to stay locked in. Sure enough every single one of them was canceled out through the end of the school year due to the virus.

On top of that, my mom and I were supposed to travel to Vegas at the end of March for my uncle’s celebration of life — that event was postponed until a safer travel time.

That trip my husband, the kids and I have scheduled in July, ya that’s just a few phone calls away from being wiped off the calendar as well.

And I think it all boils down to the fact that I need to be okay with being flexible, not getting set in my own plans. If I choose to get so hung up on my plans and then something comes up and spoils them to the point they can no longer take place I risk getting caught up in disappointment, stress, maybe even depression…but if I choose to remember that this life is forever changing and can’t ever offer stability then my heart remains softened and willing to embrace the changes. I can’t keep a tight hold on my plans because they’re fallible just like every other part of this life. Nothing is wrong with planning, in fact the Bible even encourages us to plan BUT our plans are to be within God’s best interest and in-line with His will. Proverbs 16 provides some key verses on this matter:

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.

Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

It’s God who has the say in the end.

Planning is a normal part of life but to include God in our plans, knowing that He has the ultimate best direction over us, is the key to a healthy life schedule. Because of this slower period in life, I’m also seeing that it helps to have a schedule that isn’t jam packed.

We must trust that God has overall control and be willing to submit to His plans when ours get fouled up. This happens when we remain in close communion with Him, asking Him to guide our plans and redirect our steps where needed.

I’m thankful to say that regardless of my plans becoming distorted, because of coronavirus, I am at peace with them falling through. This pandemic has served as a reminder once again that God truly is the only unchanging, unfailing, unfaltering part of life. So now (and when post corona season ever comes) I am prepared and willing to commit my plans unto Him with welcomed arms and a sensible calendar open to changes.

Photo taken in in Germany, near the North Sea

Author: alimw2013

About For His Purpose~ My name is Alicia and I'm a thirty-something year old who loves Jesus. Only through God’s amazing grace and mercy I have been redeemed from past regret and shame. Reading His word has allowed me to look past Satan’s forceful lies, to see myself for who Christ says I am in Him. Through writing I have learned why I made the choices I made in my younger years and I now have a better understanding of why I desire to love God like crazy these days. Despite my daily failures, God remains faithful always. I am reassured of His unconditional love for me by every ink-drop spilled out on paper, each committed prayer as I cry out to Him, and deep understanding reflected through reading His word as truth. Yes keeping a blog will make me vulnerable to others’ opinions- there will be some who don’t understand, some who may criticize or judge, but on the other hand if just one piece expressed through my writing grabs someone’s attention and directs them to God, then pouring out my heart in a blog for the world to read is worth it. I choose to glorify Him alone through words streaming across a glowing screen. And it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t reveal the fact that I’m incredibly quirky; I’m my loving husband’s best friend, my vivacious kids’ craziest cheerleader and spiritual trainer (3 John 1:4). I love anything farmhouse and rustic style. I think cupping a warm coffee mug in the palm of my hands is more satisfying than the contents within. I share a common obsession with my husband for the mountains, but I would (without a doubt) settle for waves crashing against my legs at the Atlantic Ocean just as well, and I almost always have a Yorkie curled up on my lap while writing. *All photos are photographed by forhispurpose.blog and therefore may not be stored or photocopied in any manner.

19 thoughts on “Living on His Plans”

  1. That’s one cool post, Alicia. Nicely said. I have also thought of the ways life is better since covid-19. One of the ways, as you have said, is that it has forced us to slow down which is better for our health and our world. There is less air and water pollution and fewer car accidents. All good things. Why did we think we had to go so fast anyway? What were we accomplishing except migraine headaches and heart-attacks?

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    1. You are so right!! I truly hope people would replace that busyness with Jesus through this time and that they would continue to focus on Him once this is over❤️Thanks so much for reading Lena!

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  2. When the shutdown first started, my life was completely disrupted. At first I lost all of my classes that I teach, Then we started teaching them online. It has actually been a blessing in that it is easier for me to rest between classes.

    I have also seen people reach out to me in ways I never did before. That was another blessing.

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  3. I agree 100%. I was nodding my head all through this post. I do not want to go back to the old normal either. And I believe the Lord wants us all to gain some insight out of this slower pace as well. I pray we can all keep this in mind as things open back up.

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  4. I’m with you, Alicia! I’m pondering a lot about the ways this changed life might point to some permanent changes for me and for us as a family. Keeping God at the center is the first and best place to start. Thank you SO much for putting my heart thoughts into such powerful words! Grace and peace to you today!

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      1. I thought I would still send the official notification to be sure because I have a tendency of falling asleep before I get the notifications done, sometimes before I can finish the post, as you can tell from the choppy editing. 🙂

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  8. Alicia, I kind of wrote on this subject on my last post, control. We have had to flex so many time due to living over seas, another culture, that I think I thought, oh this trial will not be so hard. Yeah, right! It was not so much the health crisis so much for me but the fact we were trying to move to another state that really brought out the control in me. It’s always there, wanting my way, thinking I know better, opinions upon opinions. I would say experience of flexing does maybe shorten the duration of the next time I have to flex but I hate to be uprooted. I like things to stay the same, especially if the same is my idea. this was a very good post, one all can relate to. Blessings.

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    1. Thank you!! Yes I agree and I’m very much just in the beginning of learning to surrender my will! I can not imagine trying to move during all of this, I’ve thought about that a lot as we’ve had our neighbors move a few weeks ago.
      I’m interested in reading your post on control, I’m gonna check it out…thanks for reading!! Blessings!!

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