God's plans are always good

Posts have been few and far between these days. Partly because there is only so much time and only so much energy in any one day. Partly because my brain does not always cooperate with the written language. But mostly, because every post would be about current struggles, and while that might be beneficial to me, I would imagine it would get very old to a reader. 

God's plans are always good. The Bible says that. My faith accepts that. My experience shows it to be true for the past. Therefore, it is true for the present. It will continue to be true for the future. 

God's plans are always good. Even when we don't understand them. Even when His way of doing things isn't what you thought it was going to be. Even when - in the moment, at least - it makes you cry. Doubting that is basically not trusting what God says about Himself in His word. 

Sometimes, we look at a pain we've experienced and everything in you says, "I don't want to do that again!!!" And your dread of going through that again is probably far worse than actually doing it. 

When you look at something on the horizon - say a city in the distance - from the vantage point of maybe a mountain or hilltop, you can see the whole journey between where you are and that place far off. You see every bump, every curve, every obstacle that might block your path. It's overwhelming. How can I go through that? I don't want to do that! It's too far. I'm too tired. 

That's what it's like when you're facing - again - something that caused pain in the past. It's like seeing the city in distance and the impossible amount of territory between here and there. 

The thing that I'm reminding myself of today, is that God's plans are always good. If it is His plan that I traverse every inch of that impossible-looking journey, then I have to know that He will be there with me every partial-inch of the way. And that He will have a reason for me having to do that. He doesn't ask hard things of me for no reason. It is either to grow me or strengthen me or to give me an experience that I can use to help others. Somehow, He will tie it all together in a way that fits His perfect plan.

A few months ago, a pastor Facebook friend posted a message about Romans 8:28. Do you remember that verse? "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." The point of his post was that sometimes, the things that happen are for someone else's good. You may be going through a hard thing, but it's for someone else's good. And while that may be completely true, in my opinion, he was wrong for suggesting that it wasn't also for YOUR good. If you love God, if you are called according to His purpose, then whatever happens is also for your good. God is very economical that way. He is perfectly capable of aligning things so that yes, they are for the good of someone else - but they are also for your good. It doesn't say "some" things. It says "ALL" things. Not just the things that make you happy. Not just the things you write in your diary because you want to remember every moment. All things. That includes the things that make you cry. It includes that looming event in your future that fills you with dread because you are afraid of how much it will hurt. 

Seeing that journey in its entirety ahead of time (imagining that event or whatever), is not always a good thing. What you don't realize is that even if you are picturing it correctly, you may be seeing something that will take months, even years. And step by step, one moment at a  time, it is gradually accomplished. When you look back at the end, you realize that God was there, and while it was every bit as hard as you thought, God had paced it out for you, and together, you got through it.

On the other hand,  you may not be seeing it correctly at all. You may not see that parts of the journey are not at all like you imagine. You don't really have to swim that lake - you get to ride in a speedboat. Or that city on the horizon that you thought you were heading to? Well, it wasn't your destination at all. 

God's plans are always good. They are better than anything we can come up with on our own. Only He can see the end from the beginning. Only He can take all the events of your life and weave them together - light threads and dark - to create a beautiful tapestry that will last forever.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:16-21 (NLT)