God’s got a plan; God’s got a plan. God told Mr. Noah, “I’ve got a plan! Mr. Noah, build me a boat, One that for many days will float.” God told Mr. Noah, “I’ve got a plan!”
These words are from a song I remember having sung at vacation Bible school many years ago. I had not thought about it in years, when, suddenly, there I was singing to my kids. Later when I asked my son Brandon why he did something I didn’t expect, he said, “It wasn’t part of the plan, Mom.”
As the saying goes: Plans are made to be broken. As a teacher, I made lesson plans. As a mother, I plan our meals, I plan how I’m going to get the kids from one activity to another, and I carry around a planner that contains all family appointments. The problem is that as humans we tend to forget we are not really in control; God is.
When parenting, it can be especially frustrating to feel so out of control. I spent Valentine’s Day with Owen, getting tubes in his ears. Not part of my plan. Our car broke down 3 hours into our 22-hour journey to the Midwest. Also not part of my plan. Owen was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy. That wasn’t written down in my planner. We went to Yellowstone National Park in winter and forgot Owen’s coat. Definitely not part of our plan!
Sometimes, when we read Bible stories, it seems easy to think, “I’d never do that!” But we have seen God’s master plan revealed. We see over and over again how people in the Bible had plans but God remained in control so that his purpose was served. I’m reminded of the Tower of Babel. The people were told to scatter. But they had a better idea: We’re going to stick together and build this great tower. Let’s make it reach the sky! Nothing will separate us. Grand plans! Foolish people! Of course, we know how that story turned out. Their languages were confused, and they did disperse as God had intended.
As sinful people, aren’t we just as foolish as those people? We think, “I’m going to marry this person; I’m going to have this career; I’m going to have X-number of healthy children, and they are going to be rich and successful and support me in my old age.” Oh, the plans we make!
Our plans look different to our heavenly Father. Only he knows how everything works out in the end. He knew we needed to have our car break down so we would also be told, “Your brakes are going. They should also be replaced.” Would we have stopped on our own to replace brakes along the way? No. But God’s got a plan! He always does . . . and his plans are not made to be broken.
Go ahead and make your plans. But keep in mind, when something in life doesn’t go according to your plan, your life is still going according to God’s plan for you. He is the ultimate planner. He loved us enough to have a plan that included sacrificing his own Son so we could join him in heaven. That’s quite a plan!
I’ve wondered why I remember the words to that particular VBS song. My guess is, God knew I’d need the reminder.
God’s got a plan; God’s got a plan!
By Heather Bode, from Parents Crosslink
© 2012 Northwestern Publishing House.
All rights reserved.
Image courtesy of Dawn Hudson, licensed under CC0 1.0.
Heather Bode lives with her family in Helena, Montana.