Trusting In God's Timing
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” -Proverbs 16:9, NIV
A few months ago, I put in my two weeks’ notice at work to begin a career as a full-time writer. I was nervous about the transition. But, I had enough work lined up for several months, and I was confident that I would continue to find more projects especially when I had twice as much time available.
I thought that I had planned everything out, but the one thing that I didn’t expect was that I would become pregnant the very first week that I quit my job. As much as I am grateful that we were able to get pregnant without a struggle, the timing definitely did not seem ideal to me. If I had become pregnant a month earlier, I might not have decided to quit my job because I am extremely risk-averse. If I had become pregnant a month later, I might possibly have felt a little more secure in my new career.
In my mind, my first month or two of writing was going to involve getting a routine down, looking for more clients, and picking a personal project to work on. I thought that my days would involve taking long walks during lunch and going to a coffee shop twice a week.
Instead, my current workday involves frantically trying to get work done for my current clients in between bouts of nausea, going to the bathroom, and at least one nap. I get tired when I walk more than a mile at a time, and I’m too worried that the strong aromas in the coffee shop will make me feel queasy.
I don’t think that making plans is a bad thing, and I think that it was responsible for me to create a plan before quitting my job to be a writer. But, I also know that I have to trust God and hold my own plans lightly.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Most of us don’t find it easy to give over our plans to God. We put a lot of effort and thought into our plans, and we think we know exactly how we want things to do.
One of the things that is helping me right now is to think of other times in my life where God’s timing was exactly what I needed, but I had no idea at the time. When I think back on my life so far, some of the best things that have happened occurred after periods when my carefully thought-out plans were derailed.
Looking back on those times reminds me that God has blessed me in the past when I couldn’t even have imagined how good those blessings were going to be. In fact, I’m lucky this time because even though this wasn’t the timing I expected, I know that the event that seems to be derailing my plans is an event that my husband and I absolutely want to happen. That has never been the case in the past.
Writing as a career is something that I’ve dreamed about for years, so it is difficult to have to work more slowly than I want some days. When I get frustrated, I have to remind myself of all the times in the past when God has placed things in my life at exactly the right time.
How has God’s plan been better than your own plans in the past? How do you remind yourself to trust God when you feel like the timing is off in your life?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth is an educator at heart. So far this has taken the form of a camp counselor, a museum assistant, and currently a middle school teacher. She loves to watch people grow and learn. You can read more of her writing at her blog Chronicles of a Southern Belle. (http://chroniclesofasouthernbelle.blogspot.com)