Plans change. We’re experiencing that now more than ever. It would be logical to assume that no one wanted a pandemic or policies which damage the economy. Maybe you had a summer vacation planned but policy reaction to COVID-19 shut those vacation plans down. Maybe you lost your job or find yourself isolated in your home. Maybe you find yourself facing an uncertain test result. This novel virus and policy reaction to it are showing us how quickly plans can change. 

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21)

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

No matter what happens to us, no matter how our plans may change, God is always in control. We may think things will happen one way, according to our plan, and find that it’s not how God wanted it at all. He will determine our steps and His purpose will prevail. Many of the heroes of the Bible saw their plans change so the Lord’s purpose could prevail. When God came and spoke to Moses through the burning bush, Moses protested to God five times for Him to send someone else. Moses did not want to go back to the scene of the crime where he committed murder, but God had other plans.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Perhaps the most clear example of people making plans but the Lord’s purpose prevailing is in the lives of Mary and Joseph. Being engaged is one of the most joyous times in a person’s life, and Mary and Joseph were in this joyous time, engaged to be married, when all their plans changed.

“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
“As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’
“All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’
“When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.” (Matthew 1:18-25)

We can make all the plans we want, but God’s purpose will prevail. Sometimes when God changes our plans, it can seem like a disaster. What can seem like a scandal or the worst news we could ever receive, just may end up being God’s prevailing purpose. A lot of our plans have changed over the last five months and some of it may have seemed like the last news we would have ever wanted, but remember that we can make all the plans we want, yet God determines our steps and His purpose will prevail.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed