For a wide variety of reasons, some of which I am a bit loathe to discuss, I am a person who is not particularly spontaneous by nature, with a fairly strong preference to have plans made or at least provide space where plans can be made at a given time without getting in the way of other plans, if that makes any sense. Events over the past several months have convinced me, though, that there are simply larger plans that are going on besides merely my own plans, and though I do not know exactly where I am going or how I will get there, or the specific reasons for events turning out as they do, I am open to accepting and dealing with the fact that I am not the only planner as far as my own life is concerned.

One of the consequences of this is that I have realized how often we make plans, even serious plans, without a full grasp of useful (and necessary) information. At other times we may make plans knowing that there are variables which will materially affect whether the plans work out or not, and despite the risks and dangers we make those plans anyway, in the knowledge that they may not succeed because of circumstances at least partially beyond our control. While we might prefer not to live this way, sometimes we have to act in faith and resolve to do the best that we can, accepting that our lives will have some risk for failure because we are looking to succeed.

It is a difficult matter to know or determine the plans that God has for our lives, in that we are called to work as wisely as possible, while always having to keep our eyes and ears open for the still small voice of God, which for some of us who are not particularly good at taking hints can come with a great deal of suddenness and bluntness, if that is necessary to get the point across at times. Hopefully, as we grow more attentive, we may come to the point where we do not need drastic intervention and can understand and pick up better on subtlety, but some of us are simply not that wise at this point in time. There are some things that God may accept in our lives that are not ideal, other things that we might find intolerable or close to it that God uses for good we could not have seen coming, and other things that God decides in His own ways to set according to His plans. Distinguishing between all of these matters is not an easy task.

However, it is a worthwhile task. We can neither let ourselves be so stubborn as to our own plans that we derail better plans that could have been, or so fearful or lazy that we fail to step out on faith and enjoy the blessings that God has prepared for those who obey Him. Maintaining the proper balance between diligent work and a sensitivity for God’s workings is not easy. Certainly I cannot pretend to do it perfectly, and yet it is something that I consider very important and very worthwhile. I do not think that God has brought me where I am simply for my own benefit (though I do think that there are things that God might have in mind). Hopefully I can find at least a few places where my presence and personality and ways of behavior can provide help and encouragement to others, even as I work out what purposes I am to fulfill.