Trusting In God's Plan

Few things make me cringe more than a bad Christian cliche.

I've been going to church since birth, so trust me when I say that I've heard nearly all of them.  "Wait on God's timing!" "He won't give you more than you can handle!" "Ask and you shall receive!"  The list goes on.

While I hardly ever question the intent behind the hackneyed message, I'm usually just not sure what purpose it really serves.  More than anything, I worry that it's just filler material to fill an otherwise potentially awkward silence.  But most of the time, I think what a person really yearns for is compassion.

Of course, I'm as guilty of this as anyone.  As a guy, when I'm presented with a problem, I assume people are asking me for help to find the solution.  But sometimes, we're left helpless, with seemingly nothing we can physically do to alleviate the situation.

That's when we Christians like to throw out encouraging Bible verses rapid fire, thinking that if just one dart hits the target, we've done our job.

Jeremiah 29:11 comes to mind.  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Ah, yes.  The almighty Plan.  For many of us, this verse is easy to recite.  We come from healthy homes with smiling parents, and we've jumped from one stepping stone to another in our walk of life.

Trusting in God's plan is ridiculously easy... until it no longer matches with our own plan.

I've always been a big proponent of wrestling with your faith.  You aren't going to grow spiritually until you first break down what you actually believe in.  So it's okay to ask questions.  It's okay to wonder why things happen the way they do.  It's okay to not have anything helpful to say because no matter how much we want to believe otherwise, we don't have all the answers.