what plan?

I found this little sign the other day and I was promptly turned off by it.  So I downloaded it, crossed it out and decided to say my piece about it.

At first, the quote above appears to be an encouraging sentiment, perhaps offered to individuals as assurance that God is in control.

But the problem I have with this is that it misrepresents my loving God.  Plus it messes with the faith of a lot of people, because many can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea of a God that has a plan that invites suffering and tragedy.  Tragedy is NOT in God's plan.  None of the garbage of the world was His plan.  So please stop saying that it is.

When God has a plan, I understand that it is not Him that cannot follow through, but rather the fact that the plan can be derailed by unfaithful humans.  I get all that now; I'm okay with it.  But what was bothering me when I was talking to God about this, was that when God outlined His plans in the Bible, they were so solid.  Why not offer the plans with an option of "or else" or "what if" or "just in case?"  He shouldn't always make it sound so solid if He knows that human beings will mess it up, you know?

When God created the earth, He had a plan to have Adam rule the garden, but that plan got messed up by a lying serpent, a doubting woman and a hopeless man.

When God was destroying Sodom & Gomorrah, He had a plan to save Lot and his family.  He even sent angels from heaven to guide them out.  But Lot's son-in-law's doubted and his wife couldn't give it up.

It was God's plan to have Samson lead out in delivering the Israelites from the Philistines, but that deliverance was relatively short-lived because Samson got distracted.

When God anointed Saul as king of the Israelites, His plan was for them to be led by a noble king, and he chose a man of humble character, but power got the better of Saul and he rejected God.

I could literally go on for hours; I've only highlighted a few stories from the beginning of the Bible.  There are stories after stories of God's plans constantly being thwarted by the element of human choice.

When God anoints a person for a special task and says, You will do this; you will lead this nation; you will be king; etc, then He should provide a way for them to be able to accomplish that, shouldn't He?  Why - oh why - would He set aside an individual for a sacred task if He KNOWS they will fall away and not follow through?  What manner of foolishness is this?  How can we trust when God presents a particular plan to us?  Honestly, these questions were really taking a toll on my faith and I wrestled with God about this for quite some time.

Sometimes, in the midst of my arguments with God, thoughts or truths are placed in my heart that provide me with understanding and resolve.  Other times, actual Bible verses are planted in my mind and I look them up to see if they are messages from God's spirit to mine.  And in the middle of this particular fight, Ezekiel 28:14 popped into my brain and I was eager to see what it was all about.

You were anointed as guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.

That verse is apparently referring to Lucifer.  And that just about blew my mind.  I felt like God was offering me a glimpse into a larger struggle.  It's not just human beings that have messed with God's plan, but also His created cherubim, since before the creation of our universe!

When the plan was messed up in Heaven, I imagine there was great confusion and despair because they couldn't imagine how things would ever get made right again.  The perfect, blissful heavenly spaces were devastated over the loss of balance.  And now, all of heaven looks down on us to see if we will remain faithful to The Man or reject Him because He can't seem to command control of His own creation.

If I put my faith in the plan and not the Man, then I'm in for a rude awakening.  How foolish of me to do that.  I know that my life has not gone according to God's plan.  It grieves Him and He has suffered in watching me suffer.  But that doesn't mean He's not with me.

I have an opportunity to restore my faith in Him, and bear a testimony to the universe and say:  No, of course this was not God's plan!  His will is NOT done on this earth yet.  It is our prayer that it should be, but it's not.  His will is only done in heaven right now (according to Jesus' prayer).  But in the meantime, regardless of the twists and turns in the plan, God is faithful to me.  He is my Father and Savior and Friend and Brother and in Him I find my strength and my hope and my joy.  Not in the plan.  Never in the plan.  Always in the Man.

Plus, we all understand that without the element of free-choice, we would not have the opportunity to experience a reciprocal loving relationship with God.  And so it would fare well for us to continue to put our faith in God and not in a perceived plan.

So I've rewritten that little encouraging sentiment so that it reads more accurately.  And hopefully, more people will put their faith in the only sure thing in this world....God and His never-ending love for us.  Please stop telling unsuspecting individuals that it is in God's plan that they suffer and lose their children or their homes or their health or whatever.  That's such a twisted view of God's love and it is hurting His children.  Instead, offer them hope of what is real.