In 2008 I made a plan for the next twenty years of my life.<\/p>\n
It involved an operation that was supposed to fix a physical problem. It involved ministry that would carry me from decade to decade. A life where my body was a dependable partner in what I thought God had set before me.<\/p>\n
That plan didn't hold.<\/p>\n
The operation went wrong. The nerve damage became permanent. The years that followed were a hell of pain I had never imagined \u2014 and it slowly changed everything: my pace, my self-image, my theology, my ministry.<\/p>\n
I watched my plan die.<\/p>\n
And what I want to tell you now has taken me almost 20 years to learn: plans that fail are not a sign that God has pulled back. They're often the very place he's at work \u2014 behind the tidy headlines, in the pain that never reaches the camera.<\/p>\n
Proverbs says it plainly:<\/p>\n
\"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.\" (Prov 16:9)<\/p>\n
We often read it sentimentally \u2014 as if it means \"God is steering things a little better than we are, so relax.\" But there's a harder edge to it.<\/p>\n
It also means this: your plans are not the most important thing happening. Your plans can die, and you can still be the one God is carrying.<\/p>\n
There's a small detail in the Gospels I can't let go of.<\/p>\n
Jesus says it directly to the disciples in Mark 6:45: \"go on ahead in the boat toward Bethsaida.\" Not \"try to get over there.\" Not \"it might be interesting.\" He gives them a clear address and sends them off.<\/p>\n
They set sail. They know exactly what they heard.<\/p>\n
But they end up in Gennesaret \u2014 on the northwest shore, almost 10 kilometers from the place Jesus named. Wrong side of the lake. Wrong town.<\/p>\n
And John writes about the arrival, calm and quiet: \"As soon as they landed, they reached their destination.\"<\/p>\n
Not the detour. Not the mistake. The destination.<\/p>\n
I often think about those who set sail for a Bethsaida they were sure of. It was the person they thought they'd share their life with. The ministry that was meant to be. The town, the place, the community they were called to. The faith was there. The direction was clear. They had heard.<\/p>\n
And then the illness struck. Or the energy ran out. Or something broke down in a way that made no sense \u2014 and they ended up somewhere they had never imagined.<\/p>\n
Maybe that's where John's words hold true: Bethsaida was never the goal. It was just what got them into the boat.<\/p>\n
I have sat with people who have watched their dreams shatter. A marriage that didn't last. A call that never came. A child who turned away. A career that hit the wall. A body that failed.<\/p>\n
And what I have seen \u2014 again and again \u2014 is that God works just as much in Plan B as in Plan A. Maybe more.<\/p>\n
It still hurts, almost 20 years after my operation. But the pain is not the final stop.<\/p>\n
God does not disappear when your calendar stops making sense and you find yourself somewhere you never imagined.<\/p>\n
To you standing at a dream that seems dead: you are not outside of God's will. He has been working here a long time.<\/p>\n
I'm carrying a question around \u2014 maybe it lands with you too:<\/p>\n
What plan have you watched fail? And what did you learn about God in that place? It can be a plan from long ago, or a plan that just fell apart. It can be small or big. Maybe the rest of us can be encouraged by what God has done on your detour. Plan B is rarely what we talk about out loud \u2014 but it's often where the gospel shines clearest.<\/p>\n
He was in Plan B. He is still there.<\/p>\n
He was in Plan B.<\/p>\n
He is still there.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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