Many times, in life, we face circumstances that are beyond our control. Recalibrate and keep going. Sure, you could throw yourself on the ground and pitch a hissy fit, find someone or something to blame as you assume the role of the victim, take it all upon yourself as a martyr, or give up completely. “That’s the last time I ever try that again.” And no one would blame you for doing so.
I like to approach my life in five-year increments. That is to say that I feel more confident about tackling a phase of life with specific and detailed intent, like a game plan that stretches out five years. Often I am running several plans, all in different stages, concurrently.
Rarely, if ever, does a phase proceed according to plan. This is the nature of life: It happens. Often when you least expect it, the unexpected challenge, circumstance, or obstacle blindsides you and interrupts your energy flow of the plan you’ve set in place.
Expect these things to happen. If you’re like me and assume there is a grand force that is ultimately working all things for good, you start looking for alternative routes as well as the silver lining. I believe since I assume that all things work together for my ultimate good, they always do. Always.
To onlookers from the field, it may look as though the challenges I have faced were insurmountable, some things nonsurvivable. Yet, here I am. Granted, I have been as shaken up as anyone can be, but I gather my faith, recalibrate, and keep going.
This could require reconfiguring my original five-year plan, maybe starting over with a whole new plan, or aborting the original plan and its theme altogether, which usually leads me to make a choice. Will I focus on managing the other plan(s) I currently run only, or will I be looking for a new theme to begin planning a new phase?
I embrace the idea of living my life overshadowed by divine influence and while it is not for everyone, it serves me well. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
This is the method I use to recalibrate and keep going. Sometimes my plans can be askew, for I am just doing the best I can, based on the information I have before me at the time.
When you factor in the divine, that puts a whole new perspective on what may be unfolding before you.
There is a higher plan, one that supersedes the limitations of the human experience, one that desires to protect you from any harm that might otherwise be unbearable and also will lead to your greatest benefit and prosperity.
Some people regard the Jeramiah citing as an invitation to go forth with no plan because God’s plan is better than any plan that you might conceive. This is also true. It depends on you, where you’ve come from, where you’re going, and, what kind of a person you are at the moment in your life’s journey.
These days, when I pray due to being unexpectedly thrown off track, I am not likely to include a cry of, “Why?” Why? Because due to my experience, I’ve come to know that there is this overarching divinity in all things. So, my prayer would be more of a prayer of faith, like everything I do is in honor of my creator.
My intention is pure, even though I may have wandered or engaged in an activity or phase which is not in my best interest. I trust that the overarching plan is always perfect, and as I continue to recalibrate according to that, all things will ultimately work for good.
~ Rev. David M