Do you have a Plan B?

It's been a terrible couple of days (keeping it real).  Yes I know some of you don't like to hear it because you come to this blog to be encouraged, to be mentored and to have happy thoughts.  I have struggled to write this week because I am being challenged on every front in my life at the moment.  Marriage, finances, home school pressures, housekeeping - you name it my buttons are being pushed and in fact if this were the movies we would be on the red zone before some gasket was about to blow.

Yes I have prayed, yes I have sought out the Lord, yes I have regrettably argued and complained about my lot in life - but nothing has changed.  Sometimes we can do everything we know how to do and everything we tell everyone to do and still nothing changes.  

This situation reminds me of my trip to China.  We arrived in Hong Kong and after catching trains and buses we crossed over through no man's land - not China and not Hong Kong. We were caught between two places.  And we needed to cross no man's land to get to our destination.  Well that's where we are! In the middle.  Nothing is clear, its like looking through the fog and even if you put on your lights and turn them on bright - you still can't see properly.

Yesterday I was able to sit with a dear friend and we prayed together.  We shared similar feelings and struggles and it felt good to get some things off my chest.  Again, though we prayed together, it didn't change anything but at least I didn't feel like I was alone. There was someone who understood where I was at.  Someone who didn't minimise my feelings or give me scripture to memorise telling me that I lacked faith or perseverance or that I should be happy because I am going through these things (I mean really, can anyone honestly be happy with hardship - inner joy - maybe - happy, definitely not!).

So here I am sharing this with you, but there's a few reasons.  I am not perfect.  Reading people's blogs might give you the feeling they have it all together.  We don't.  Also this same friend shared a very special post by another blogger (of course) which was a real encouragement for me.  So I thought I would share it with you.  Why reinvent the wheel when someone has already written a beautiful post about this?

 Last month, my husband Lee and I celebrated the ten year anniversary of the first day we met. I had driven from Dallas, Texas to Wake Forest, NC to start seminary and teach English at a Christian school. The administrator of the school had given Lee my new address and asked told him to show up and help the new teacher unload her U-Haul. He showed up, and the rest, as they say, is history.

But I would not say everything in our lives from that day ten years ago until now has been perfect. It hasn’t all been easy. We’ve had many “plan B” situations—times when our plan and God’s plan didn’t match. We have a child with autism. We have been in the long process of adoption for over two years now. Our house only has one bathroom. (Just keeping it real. Wouldn’t everyone’s “Plan A” include a house with more than one bathroom?) And even though I wouldn’t have chosen each delay, diagnosis, or drawback, I can honestly say God’s plan for our lives is perfect.
When God’s plan interrupts my life and my plans, I have to turn to Scripture to remember who is really in charge. I need encouragement to face Plan B. Thankfully, His Word is full of Plan B situations, and reassurance for those of us going down different roads than we had planned.

   Whatever Plan B situation you find yourself in today (or tomorrow), know that it’s still God’s Plan A for your life. Trust in that and praise Him for the encouragement you find in His Word.

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Written by Sandra Peoples on Do Not Depart