When Words Change
Maybe the beauty is not in making the plans, but in witnessing what the Lord has in store for the instances we didn’t plan.
Have you ever made a plan to do something, but then something completely different happened? Did you spend a lot of time outlining and agonizing over the details, and then it went nothing as you thought it would?
I think we have all experienced this at one point or another … maybe multiple times (guilty).
Plans are simply that: plans. They are not set in stone. Things will not go as thought all the time, and that is completely okay.
Yet, I am still learning daily to relinquish my plans to the Lord. I know it’s what He wants me to do, yet I continue finding myself drafting out a course of action before consulting the One who knows what is best for me. I can get pretty carried away with my own plans, only for the Lord to gently say to me, “Not that way, this way.”
Daily, it is important to turn plans over to the Lord. It doesn’t mean, “oh yay, I don’t have to plan anything” but rather, it is important to invite the Lord into the day. It is good and beautiful to make plans, but it is important to consult Him constantly with minor and major decisions alike.
A prayer that comes to mind about offering our plans up is the “Morning Offering”:
“Oh Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.”
Furthermore, Proverbs 16 says to: “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established” (Proverbs 16:3, NRSV-CE).
Also, “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9, NRSV-CE).
There are so many times I have planned out my own way, but then it ends up being that the Lord had a different path in mind.
When planning this week’s reflection, I had planned to write about something completely different. However, then the words that came to my mind and heart changed. Words don’t change, but the order in which they come to mind does.
So maybe the beauty is not in making the plans, but in witnessing what the Lord has in store for the instances we didn’t plan, but rather offered to Him.
In Christ,
We still make plans, but we hold them with open hands and invite God into them. Some of the most meaningful moments in life seem to come from the paths we didn’t map out ourselves, when the Lord quietly redirects our steps. Proverbs captures that tension well—we plan our way, but God ultimately guides it. Sometimes the real beauty is simply paying attention to where He is leading instead of clinging too tightly to where we thought we were going. I’ve been reflecting on that same idea of surrendering the present moment to God here: https://theeternalnowmm.substack.com/p/the-surrender?r=71z4jh
Amen to bringing small and big decisions to the Lord!