When God’s Plan For Your Life Is Different Than Yours

When God’s Plan For Your Life Is Different Than Yours

Standing in my bathroom on a warm April afternoon, I held the most unexpected news in my hands. I was pregnant. Against all odds, I had conceived again. After two miscarriages early in my marriage, I wondered if I would ever see those double blue lines. For six years I prayed for a baby. I was hopeful. But as each year slowly ticked by, my diagnosis of unexplained infertility loomed like a mysterious fog that wouldn’t lift. 

But here I was. 

I wanted to embrace the joy of this miraculous news, but I was deeply afraid to celebrate. I silently prayed, Please, God. Protect this little life inside of me. The weeks slowly continued to tick by. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As I hit week eleven, I began to experience some light bleeding. 

So, I scheduled an extra appointment with my doctor to check things out. My heart was torn between fear and hope as I walked into her office. Please, God. Please. 

My doctor greeted me warmly and reassured me that everything was probably fine. As she conducted the ultrasound, her demeanor suddenly changed. She got quiet as she observed the screen. Then, without looking at me, she softly said, “I’m so sorry, honey, but there’s no longer a heartbeat.” 

Her words stabbed me in the chest. Lying on my back, I stared at the ceiling in silence, gripping my husband’s hand. Silent tears streamed down my face. I had no words to speak. All I could do was cry. My dreams, longings, and hopes of motherhood came crashing down around me, again.  

When Your Plans Don’t Quite Match God’s Plan For Your Life

As I type these words today, I still have yet to experience a healthy pregnancy. I’ve asked God why so many times. I’ve cried and wondered why God would give this good gift to other women but not to me. I’ve prayed fervently and sincerely, wondering why God wasn’t answering my prayers. Why wasn’t He giving me what I so desperately wanted—especially something that He calls a good thing? Why wasn’t my life turning out the way I wanted it to? What was God doing?

I’m guessing you’ve wrestled with your own unanswered prayers. Maybe even right now. Just like me, you’ve probably cried your own prayer to God too: 

God, please give me a baby. 

God, please restore my broken marriage. 

God, please heal my loved one who’s sick. 

God, please open the door for a better job. 

God, please help my friend to know you as their Savior. 

God, please bring me a Godly husband. 

God, please mend this strained relationship with my in-laws.

The Truth About God’s Plan

But here’s the truth, God knows that our greatest need isn’t to get what we want out of life but to get more God into our life. And if we’re totally honest with ourselves, one of the best ways for us to see our need for Him is through the lens of our unfulfilled longings. 

You see, God cares deeply about our prayers and our desires, but He is graciously calling us to pursue something better. Something more satisfying. Something eternal. He is calling us to find our true hope in Him alone. Our relationship with God is the deepest and truest need of our heart. It’s the only thing that can bring genuine satisfaction to our soul. Yes, our desires are great, but they shouldn’t be our greatest desire. Our Heavenly Father is lovingly and graciously pushing us toward true and lasting hope. 

Have Faith In God’s Plan

We will find peace in the midst of our desperate longings when we entrust them to our Heavenly Father. When we open our hands in surrender, and give our burdens to the One who holds all things together, we find peace. And we do this by faith.

By faith we trust that His timing is better than our own.
By faith we choose to believe that God knows best.
By faith we entrust our future to God and rest in His plan.
By faith we hold on to the promise that if we never get the things we’ve prayed for, God will still be enough.

I don’t know what’s weighing on your heart today, but I do know this: by faith, you can choose to put your trust in the one true God who is with you in the midst of your circumstances. Surrendering the reigns of our life to God isn’t easy, but it’s undoubtedly worth it.

Psalm 119:68 says, “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.” And Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Even in the midst of the most trying circumstances, we can find true joy in our relationship with Christ.

Trust God No Matter What

Regardless of your season of life, let Matthew 6:20-21 remind you, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our hearts will be most content when we remind ourselves that we are not on this earth to build our Kingdom but to build God’s. And each of our unique life stories and journeys is a beautiful part of God’s greater and grander plan.

God has a beautiful story for each one of our lives. Sometimes our story is filled with joy and celebration, and sometimes it’s filled with tears and grief. But no matter what comes our way, we can confidently put our trust in the Lord because He is the author of our story. ⁣

I really encourage you to dig into my new book, Not Part of the Plan: Trusting God with the Twists and Turns of Your Story, for more on how to trust God when your life isn’t turning out how you expected.

Written By Kristen Clark.

About the author: Kristen Clark is married to her best friend, Zack, and is the newly adoptive mom to two precious boys from Ukraine. She is co-founder of Girl Defined Ministries, author of several books, including Not Part of the Plan: Trusting God with the Twists and Turns of Your Story, and is passionate about promoting the message of God-defined womanhood through blogging, speaking, mentoring young women, and hosting Bible studies in her living room. In the end, she’s just a fun-lovin’ Texas girl who adores all things outdoors and is an unashamed dog-lover who snuggles with her little maltipoo whenever she can.