My answer was, "Oh... it didn't work out." I was disappointed.
She replied smiling, "It wasn't God's plan!"
My first thought was that this was naive.
So, I began revisiting some old wonderings:
Does God have a specific plan for every situation we ever face?What do you think?
And when he does have a plan, does it always come to fruition, or could this situation not working be complete against God's plan because someone involved was acting outside of His will?
Does praying over a situation ensure that God's will will be done?
personally I beleive that we can hinder God's plan... Not because he isn't all powerful but because we have free will...
ReplyDeleteAnd I believe that God has a major scheme for our lives, but for a lot of things, it's up to us. Why would he plan every detail? He is omnipotent, he should know that would mean a lot of dissapointment on his part. :(
I am unable to have children, and found out after a string of miscarriages resulting in a very early hysterectomy. I grew to really loathe the well meaning Christian-ese phrase of "Wasn't in God's plan", the reality is, God doesn't plan for our hearts to break of lives to be devestate... Sometimes they happen and we have to trust him to work through all things not plan them. (and THAT is my two cents! :) )
Tough question.
ReplyDeleteDo I believe God has a plan for every single one of us?
Yes.
Do I believe that prayer can change exactly how that plan comes into fruition?
Yes.
I think it's tough when we desire something, we pray about it, it feels so right and it doesn't happen.
And I don't think there is a standard answer for this, because the reasons why depend on each individual situation. Sometimes it's because it's not part of God's plan. Sometimes it is part of God's plan for us, but just 'not yet' (I'm particularly known for giving up in times of impatience!!) Sometimes I think that God has answered our prayers and we don't notice because He has not answered in the way that we expect Him to?
I guess it's all about trust like Misty says...
I'll chuck in a lil bit of discernment too!! :)
so i have a pretty recent (yesterday ahem) testament to this discussion. but i think it boils down more to the flesh versus spirit problem we all have - and i think that also has something to do with God-planning.
ReplyDeleteI believe that what God says about Himself in His word is true: He has plans to prosper us and give us a hope and a future - not to harm us. However, we have this flesh/earthsuit we must contend with, that gives us ideas that are probably if not totally contrary to God's plans/our Spirit-man's leanings/the Holy Spirit's tugs on our heart, even if they are ever so tough for our flesh to justify. So He sees the HUGE PICTURE when we see so little as we are trapped in time. We can't see next week and He can see our whole life.
I believe that He gives us grace in the "plans" we make for ourselves, and He may adjust as any good parents do in order to continue loving us through our "plans." But they may not be what He wanted - if we were to completely and fully give ourselves over to Him and earnestly seek Him and listen to His Spirit within us...which because of our flesh becomes difficult (I'm basically talking about Romans 7).
All in all I think that if we weren't bound to our flesh we could see so much more (which is why I am looking forward to the newness of eternity with Jesus) - but since we have the flesh to contend with, we must continually die to ourselves and seek God and ask Him for wisdom and the ability to know and carry out His plans even when they are completely flesh-angering.
Like when you get a promotion but the money is crap. Flesh: NO WAY; Spirit: I am integral to my company and there's no other way but up as I continue to excel and have a good track record there in God's will.
So yeah.
See, I tend to think that God does have a plan for every person, but it's as Jenn points out-- for prosperity, not for harm.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this means that God has a plan for every situation that we ever encounter.
I also don't think that praying about a situation ensures that God's will will be done.
Otherwise, every person would come to know Christ. 1 Pet 3:9 says that it's God's will that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That obviously has not happened throughout time, unless there's an after death chance that we don't know about (the Mormons believe this, but I don't think it's scriptural considering the story of Lazarus and the rich man that Jesus told).
So, anyway...was this situation that didn't work out (as of now) God's will? I don't know.
I believe that God uses all things for good for those who love Him, but I don't think that means that everything that happens is in God's will...even when we pray about it.
P.S. Jenn, congrats on the crappy promotion. LOL
I always loved that song by Garth Brooks that talked about him thanking God for unanswered prayers. The fact is, we often pray for things that are not in line with God's will and it is only his sovereignty that allows us to escape or experience pain. It is very hard to understand but the Bible says that God's peace surpasses our own understanding. That means, we will never really get it while we are here on earth.
ReplyDelete