God Does Not Have a Plan for Your Life
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By Jennifer Taylor
“God’s plan for your life isn’t a map you see all at once, but a scroll unrolled a little at a time, requiring faith,” Rick Warren recently tweeted.
“God will accelerate his plan for your life as you put your trust in him. God is giving you victory sooner than you think,” says Joel Osteen.
Less prominent Christians champion the theology as well. In responding to a new believer’s question about his career, a contributor to Bible-Knowledge.com writes, “God will now be the one to fully guide you into whatever jobs he will want you to have. . . . The choice is no longer yours! In the meantime, God will make sure you have enough money and support coming in to keep you afloat until this next job comes through.”
It is comforting to believe God has mapped out our future. It is exciting to think he’s bringing me victory. And I would love for God to make sure I have enough money while I passively wait for it to happen.
But unlike pastors Warren and Osteen, Mr. Bible-Knowledge, and many Christians I know, I don’t believe God has created a plan for my life—or for yours.
Problems with “The Plan”
• We take verses out of context.
Jeremiah 29:11 is a cherished verse, frequently used for encouragement in graduation cards, post-breakup pep talks and, yes, job searches. (Well-meaning believers have recited it to me in all three contexts.) Along with The Bachelorette and people who refuse to vaccinate their children, its yanked-out-of-context use is one of the biggest pet peeves of my life.
Somehow we forget the grim reality surrounding this verse: amidst oracles of doom and judgment against Judah, Jeremiah says these words to comfort the people (as a group) with promises of eventual restoration and return from exile.
This is a bit different from claiming it as a guarantee of a fulfilling job, wonderful spouse, or ministry “call.”
Moreover, for every verse we quote to support the presence of a divine plan, there are others suggesting God is not super concerned with our understanding of it.
Throughout the Bible we encounter people frustrated and confused by life. Abraham is challenged to sacrifice Isaac. Joseph is jailed in Egypt for speaking the truth and behaving honorably. Hosea is asked to marry a prostitute. John the Baptist is imprisoned and beheaded; before his death he questions the point of his entire ministry. “Are you really the one?” he asks Jesus.
Most of the “Bible heroes” experienced huge setbacks with little explanation. As for the “ordinary” believers, Jesus spoke in parables his followers didn’t understand and weren’t supposed to (Luke 8:10).
From his caution about trees in the Garden to the mysteries of Revelation, the Bible consistently communicates God’s love, his wisdom—and his apparent unconcern that we figure him out.
• It can harm, not help.
For years I believed God not only had a specific plan for my life, but he was keeping it from me. As I struggled to choose a major in college, I wondered about all the other 20-year-olds in my dorm. Did they have it figured out? Why would God enlighten them and not me? As I made the first steps of my career I pleaded with God to show me his will. “You know I’ll do anything you want,” I once prayed. “Why won’t you tell me?”
My friends have struggled, as well. When I explored these concepts on my blog, one commented, “Doesn’t God lead us if we spend enough time in his presence? Isn’t a lack of ‘calling’ really a sign of an immature Christian?”
If we don’t see The Plan, it’s easy to feel forgotten or ignored by God. The belief in a heavenly micromanager almost guarantees feelings of anger and resentment when the answers don’t come.
Or, like my friend, we assume the communication problem is our own lack of faithfulness. Perhaps if we prayed more fervently, fasted more frequently, or read the Bible more regularly God would finally break down and give us a glimpse of his will.
The God-has-a-plan theology must also encompass our heartaches. Does his plan really include sexually molested children? If God “gave you” your spouse, why does your equally faithful friend remain unmarried? If we believe God has a detailed plan full of good things for every person, we must also have an answer (better than “everything happens for a reason”) for that devastated child and lonely single man.
• It ignores the freedom God gives us.
“The choice is no longer yours!” exclaims the website writer, apparently delighted at his loss of options.
Yet the Bible consistently points to God giving us many choices; from asking Adam to name the animals to allowing our rejection of his Son, God offers humanity a staggering amount of freedom.
We love to talk about God as Father when it comes to his love, care, and compassion, but if we are going to use the metaphor we must accept its full ramifications. My own father does not control my life. He does not make decisions for me, tell me where to work, or insist I marry a specific person. He did not tell me what to write in this article. He raised me to think critically, develop my character, and use good judgment.
If good earthly fathers do not dictate life for their children, why would a perfect heavenly Father?
All Stars
So why is the belief in God’s master plan still so prevalent?
For one thing, it’s a spiritual way to abdicate responsibility—if I can figure out what ministry or profession I’m “called” to, I don’t have to risk making a bad decision on my own.
If God has already planned our majors, careers, spouses, and futures we can bypass the hard work of dating, auditioning, interviewing, researching, moving, learning, and failing. (It’s interesting that while many of us will reject Calvinist theology in matters of salvation, we embrace the idea of a predestined personal life.)
By the way, my childhood dream was to become a belly dancer, which I consider irrefutable proof that your first “calling” is not always the best one.
Many of us also believe life is a movie and we have a starring role. Have you ever noticed God always calls people to plant a church, start a ministry, or launch a speaking career? No one ever gets called to work as a maid at the Best Western in Altoona, Kansas (population 454). No one “has a passion” for less excitement or less attention. As the popular Monster.com commercials remind us, no child ever said, “When I grow up I want to file all day.”
But believing God has a specific (and blessing-filled) plan for their lives lets American individualists feel special. Preoccupation with oneself seems more holy if wrapped in Christianese language.
The problem is we aren’t all special. There was one Moses and millions of followers, one Mary and a country full of unremarkable Jewish girls. For every Billy Graham there are stadiums full of “ordinary” Christians.
Do we not feel “called” to be one of these nameless, obedient believers, or does it just offend our sense of importance? As author Donald Miller says, if you are a pregnant virgin or an angel wants to wrestle with you, God may have a plan for you. Otherwise, it’s likely you are a not a main character in the story he’s writing.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Because we’ve tied a belief in God’s plan to our understanding of his love for us, a sense of loss can accompany this realization. Some people feel scared or alone; others confuse it with lack of faith in God’s sovereignty. When I once told a boyfriend I didn’t believe God had chosen a specific person for me to marry, he sputtered and stammered, “Are you really a Christian?”
Yes, I am a Christian (one who is glad she ended that relationship). I believe God is firmly in control of his creation, accomplishing his work of redemption and salvation through (and in spite of) us, and inviting us to partner with him. I believe the call to every believer is the same—to become more like Jesus and to serve him in our own small corners of the world.
But he allows us to choose how we obey this call, and for me this is proof of his great love. He promises to direct our steps, but not to dictate them. He doesn’t say we’ll always understand, but he promises we won’t be abandoned. Jeremiah’s assurance of “a hope and a future” is not a guarantee of career fulfillment or marital bliss; it’s the promise of real relationship with a faithful, mysterious Father.
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD’s contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Read her blog at www.seejenwrite.com.
Excellent! Unfortunately, we Christians lack discernment and critical thinking. We need to know what to do. Specifically! Instead of loving God and others, walking humbly with God, and delighting in the law of the Lord (and many other Biblical ways of living), we Christians want to know who to marry, where to work, and what car to buy next. Life is hazardous to only love, walk, and delight without some inclination of what to specifically expect.
Fantastic! One of the very best blog posts I’ve read in a long, long time. Thanks!
Amen Jen! You have articulated something that I have thought for years. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” is true, but His plan is general rather than specific. Thanks for sharing this.
Spla-Dow! Great post Ms. Taylor. The only problem I have now is the challenge of erasing the mental image of you doing the Dance of the 7 Veils.
“abdicate responsibility”. I dont have to risk making decisions on my own. there is a LOT there…at least in my life.
I’m glad you put these thoughts into words! It’s taken me many years to come to the same conclusion: that God calls each of us to become more like Jesus and to serve him wherever we are. I think if God had a specific calling and plan for my life, He would’ve revealed it to me plainly after years of my asking and trying to figure it out. He’s always made his will very clear in his Word; there was no need to guess what it was.
I agree
Knofel Staton’s little book, “How To Know the Will of God” [I think that is the title] decades ago presented a similar view. In my Book “What the Bible Says About God the Ruler” (1984), there is a whole chapter on “The Will of God,” also presenting a similar view in Biblical detail.
What Jennifer has written is exactly what I was talking to my husband, Byron, about tonight before I even read this article. I had been reading a book about “relieving your anxieties” and I had to put the book down because I was becoming very anxious. The thrust of the book was that “God knows everything that is going to happen to you. He knows it all before it happens.” Well I say to that…. God doesn’t plan for a man to murder his wife. God doesn’t plan for a child to be molested. The list goes on and on. God has given all of us a free will to choose. There are consequences and victims as a result of bad choices. On the other hand there are also wonderful consequences from wise choices. What God does promise is that His strength is sufficient (even if we don’t feel it sometimes), His grace is given freely to us and ultimately, the battle belongs to the Lord. That is what gives me comfort, joy, and a peace that surpasses all understanding. In the end…the devil loses. Really, really loses big time! I couldn’t say it as eloquently as Jennifer did but “thanks Jennifer!” I am not so anxious right now. We won’t even talk about “why was I reading that other book in the first place!”
Although at times I differ with the doctrinal views expressed in the Christian Standard, I have never before felt as though the viewpoints being offered were unbiblical – until now. This comment thread does not allow the opportunity to articulate all of the reasons that this article does violence to Scripture and to the sovereign character of God. To believe the observations of Ms. Taylor, one must believe that Romans chapter 8 is a falsehood (or applies only to a select few, as expressed by Donald Miller); that Bible prophecy features opportunities for happenstance (a great number of people who were not “main characters” were necessary characters indeed in the lives of the pregnant virgin and the one who wrested with the angel); and that only “main characters” and “all-stars” are recipients of a “plan”, while ordinary folks are left to meander through life in an attempt to make some sort of meaning of their Christian existence. The Enemy’s first and primary lie is that we can be our own gods. Denying God’s plan for our lives is an dangerous move in that direction.
Jennifer’s article rings true and I appreciate God using her to “illuminate” His truth to us. For us to believe He has chosen a “career path” or friends or health or whatever doesn’t not match with His character…..He allows us “free-will” and choice. Yes, He “gifts” us with talents and we should submit to using them for His glory, but we still can decide on our on what to do. Bottomline……God wants us to love Him with all our mind and heart…..and neighbors as ourselves…..
The Bible doesn’t address this as an “either-or” question.
The Bible contains doctrines held in tension. For example, theologians have long debated the merits of election vs. free will. Yet the Bible clearly speaks of both God’s sovereignty AND human responsibility. How do we reconcile the two? In our finite minds, we can’t. But the apostle Paul and other New Testament writers didn’t seem to have a problem with the peaceful co-existence of both truths, and neither should we.
Related to that, God does have a plan for us – among other things, His plan includes His children growing and maturing in the faith, developing a growing intimacy with Him, and sharing the gospel with others. However, we have the choice to obey or not, to die to self or not, to share the gospel or not. Once again, two positions held in tension: God’s sovereignty and our responsibility.
Regardless of these tensions, it is always dangerous to interpret God’s blessings for obedience as financial provision. God’s blessings could be much greater than money – the most important one that comes to mind is intimacy with Him.
It is amazing how we desire for God to be in control of our life and the way it lays out. When it goes our way, we take all the credit and then when things do not go our way, we blame God, even get angry at Him for the bad choices we make. When our two month old, Nicholas, died in January of this year, there were many people that came to Karen and I and tried to comfort us that God plan it this way so as to keep him from harm or the bigger and more hurtful comment, “It was God’s plan to strengthen your faith and he is with Jesus.” What a crock..God is so much more in love with us than we could ever imagine. Why then we he intentionally hurt us and our baby so as to strengthen our faith. The truth is that we are born into a fallen world and we have a sinful nature. Thus, Nicholas’ little heart was just not strong enough to keep pumping. There is comfort in knowing that our child is with Jesus and there will come a day we will be reunited, but that is a response of a loving God. Thank you for a great article established in truth.
A most interesting essay. If nothing else your article stimulated my thinking. I have never thought of myself as being on the side of our more spiritual brethren. I have never concerned myself believing that God wanted me to be focused in on the details of life such as what color socks I should wear or if I should wear socks at all. It the Bible teaches us that God has the hairs on my head numbered, he cares for the birds and flowers and says what father would give his son a snake when the son needs a fish, then God is very involved with individual. I understand that quoting Scripture is not evidence for God’s will or purpose but in general why are these statements and the stories in the Bible if they are not important? It is obvious that God deals with and reaches the whole world and especially through his son Jesus Christ and yet we have story after story after story of his dealings with individuals. I would like to think that God has a specific plan for me and within that plan I have freedom to make choices and decisions. Maybe part of his plan is to give us the desires of our heart and be free to succeed or try again. The main thing is that we can obtain salvation through our Lord and Savior and live under his mercy and grace. That’s a great plan. An old professor of mine at San Jose Bible College(William Jessup University) once told me if you want to know God’s plan or will in your life check it out in Scripture and if what you’re doing doesn’t conflict with what Jesus or Scripture teaches then go ahead and do it. This still seems like safe advice.
After all these years I really am convinced that God has a very specific plan for my life. I believe that we are left with choice and responsibility and these choices and responsibilities should not detract from God’s plan in our lives. Charles ”Corky” Riley
Good observation, Jennifer.
At the risk of stripping another quote of it’s context, Paul writes to the Ephesians: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
I think God has a plan, but it’s not a plan for “my” life. Paul suggests elsewhere that I don’t really have a life anymore, just Christ living in me.
God’s plan is to build himself a dwelling, prepare a bride for his son, and rescue children for his family. None of this is really about me and my life. Rather, God invites me to join him in the completion of his plan. I think he prepares “good works” for me that will advance his plan and gives me the choice to do them or not. If I choose not to do one of the works he’s prepared for me, he is gracious and gives me more chances. Perhaps not endless chances, but so far he’s given me more chances.
The cool thing is that as I capitalize on these God-prepared “good works”, God gives me more chances, and trusts me with greater works in proportion to my faith and obedience. Along the way, I think he keeps me as employed and healthy and prosperous as he needs me to be to complete the good works he’s prepared for me.
Right on Jennifer. Thank you for writing what so many of us have said in private conversations.
Jen,
Nicely put and I agree totally. However, with my newfound freedom, no longer calling upon the will of God, I will continue to refrain from immunizing my children
Well said Jennifer. Garry Friesen, Decision Making and the Will of God (Jack Cottrell put me on to this source years ago), has an in-depth treatment of every Scripture related to this matter. It is well worth a look if you have never considered this view before.
Great article, Jennifer. I agree with 99 percent of what you are saying, however, as a minister, I have often felt the “burden” or the “calling” of preaching. Even when I took a hiatus, the Word of God burned within me, to the point I had to find a place to preach. The Spirit would not let me rest until I preached. That being said, I am humble enough to realize I am not the main character (that distinction belongs to Jesus), or a major player. I am simply a willing player. (And I share your pet peeve of those who rip Jeremiah’s words out of context).
Good perspective on a controversial issue.
Jennifer – I believe you are right, but have you considered the Scripture where Paul wrote that God foreknew and predestined those to the likeness of His Son. God’s plan for our life is to make every effort to submit ourselves to God to be more like the Son, Jesus Christ.
I, too, was very distressed by the frequent use of Jeremiah’s words to a particular people at a particular time being used to fit into the life of today’s believer. A similiar thing happened more than a decade ago with the “Prayer of Jabez” and billions of dollars lined a few pockets. Thankfully Larry Pechawer did a real indepth study of the Hebrew and wrote the book “The Lost Prayer of Jabez” showing that the prayer was for pasture land not being kept from evil.
That God’s plan is for us to be more like Jesus is not bad. I will go along with that. The problem is when some say that God has a preplanned plan for your life that includes education marriage and work, I have a problem with that.
This comment came into the Christian Standard office through the mail.
The article is superb. It is well reasoned, greatly needed and right on target.
I don’t just believe that God has a plan for my life, I know God has a plan for my life as I have seen it unfold for the past 35 years. God called me to do very specific things in my life and anytime that I’ve tried to do the things I’ve wanted to do rather than what God called and planned in advance for me to do, I’ve failed.
God called me to be a Pastor and I am. God did not call me to be a High School History Teacher, nor an accountant nor a funeral director. There are people whom God did call to do those jobs. but I am not one of them.
God has gifted me with what I need to do what He has called me to do. So not only did God give me a very specific call that I answered and find immensely fulfilling, God also blessed me with an amazing wife whom He gifted to live and serve as a pastor’s wife. That’s what God called my wife to do, to support her husband and stand beside him as He leads the household and the Church.
I know it’s difficult for a single person to understand such as the author and would require someone who has lived it to be able to accurately explain it to others.
I would say that if you’re not living the call God has given you then you won’t find fulfillment and satisfaction in what you are doing.
Did God call you to write a “so-so, mundane” blog? Did God entitle it “Write about now?” I doubt it
You say, “But believing God has a specific (and blessing-filled) plan for their lives lets American individualists feel special. Preoccupation with oneself seems more holy if wrapped in Christianese language.”
I don’t have any preoccupation with myself. My preoccupation is in reaching a lost and hurting world with the life changing, soul saving message of Jesus Christ. My preoccupation is in equipping the Church I pastor to do ministry in order to fulfill the great commission/ I Don’t wrap anything I do in any language for I know exactly what God has called me to do and how do I know? Through much prayer, Bible study, fasting and just pouring over the Word of God.
Then this quote really made me laugh out loud, literally, the dog thought I was nuts, “The problem is we aren’t all special. There was one Moses and millions of followers, one Mary and a country full of unremarkable Jewish girls. For every Billy Graham there are stadiums full of “ordinary” Christians.”
This sounds like the statement of someone who has been emotionally hurt many times in their life. Everyone is special. Me, you, the people in Pittsburgh or Peoria are just as special as those in Montgomery or Killarney, Ireland. Everyone in the world is special and everyone in the world is beloved and called by God.
I don’t need to be Billy Graham or Rick Warren or Joel Osteen or whomever in order to be special. I don’t need to have 500 or 5000 or 500,000 people follow me on twitter or be my friend on facebook or even read my website to be special. Don’t need to be on tv or radio either. Billy Graham had the ministry he had because God called him to it, same with Warren and Osteen. Just because they don’t give you the time of day doesn’t mean they aren’t called to what they are doing.
Most of your posts are dangerous to believers who may not know the Bible. To those who have a slant towards what you put out there….you’re a queen of all bloggers. To those of us who have lived what your saying doesn’t happen, you’re simply wrong
You can’t argue or go against reality and the reality is that God called me to do something specific just as he calls everyone to do. My first ministry in the Church was cleaning the toilets. Was it glamorous? Nope. Did it get my name in lights? nope. But God did call me to do it and I answered the call. When God saw I was faithful in doing that and did it all for Him all the time, He enlarged my territory. Soon I was changing light bulbs 50 feet above the sanctuary floor and waxing the fellowship hall and cleaning the bapistry…all before God allowed me to pastor a Church.
I could and will one day write a book about those experiences and how God used them to mold me into the pastor I am today. All part of His call.
God has called you too, he’s just waiting for you to answer.
What’s interesting to me about this topic is that we all agree on some things. At one extreme, we know that it is absolutely and specifically God’s will that we live morally pure lives (“…for the Bible tells me so…”). At the other extreme, I’ve nver heard anyone claim that God directs which of two work shirts they should wear on a given day. The tenor of Paul’s words about getting married in I Corinthians 7 seem to imply a free choice among believing prospects. It’s always seemed to me that we should use the tools of wisdom God has given us (and has graciously allowed us to hone through hard life experience), while being open to His gentle over-ruling.
What I would say, is that the limits of God’s detailed instructions are not explicitly defined in Scripture. Can we not be charitable toward each other and recognize that we will know the “rest of the story” soon enough?
I am really confused about God’s will, faith, and miracles. I have cancer and I have been thinking a lot about life and what really confuses me is if God preplans our life, and God’s will is for me to die from cancer, then how do faith and miracles come into play? If anyone could help me understand this I would be forever grateful.
This is an outstanding article that, I think, our Restoration forefathers would be proud of. A text without a context is a pretext. Jen has brought up a popular text and has revealed its proper context. There are so many other popular texts that need to be treated in the same fashion. The sacredness of Scripture demands such treatment and I am pleased to see this done so in dealing with this text that is nearly always taken out of its context.
Seth, I doubt too many people read through all these comments and so your question might be missed by most.
I don’t believe God gives us diseases; he is our healer. I believe what his word says, that he uses everything that comes into our lives for our good and for the good of others, according to his plan, and that he never leaves us. This can be difficult to accept when we’re given circumstances we wouldn’t choose for ourselves and when horrible things happen. I believe faith comes into play when we must choose whether to walk through the horrible things with God or without him, when we must decide if he is truly good. I think we should always pray for healing, while also praying for God’s will–his overall plan–to be done here on earth as it is in heaven, and that also requires faith.
I have a friend whose husband is extremely ill right now. As she blogs about what her family is experiencing, she keeps emphasizing that their faith is in God, not in outcomes. If you would like to follow her story, here is the link: http://www.noelgreen.com/Dan
And I will pray for your peace and your health!
Ora et labora… Pray and work… Both are necessary!
The problem with this article is it assumes God’s Plan has to look like a human plan: singular, unbranched, with one goal all other outcomes being failure. I don’t believe that. God having a Plan does not have to preclude choice, or be permanently ruined by making the wrong ones. I believe God has a Plan for my life that accounts for free will; I believe God’s Plan for my life includes multiple paths depending on choices He Plans to give me. I recently went through an awful divorce, fought like heaven to save my marriage and ultimately failed. I don’t believe God intended or wanted that to happen. I believe He Planned for me to stay married. Does that mean I’m off the track, doomed now because I’m off God’s Plan? No. Because God’s plan doesn’t have just one track; you could say His Plan includes an infinite number of contingency plans. My wife was not supposed to leave me, but God had a Plan for my life in which that happened, just in case she did. God knows everything that can happen; I don’t believe He necessarily knows what we *will* choose, but He certainly knows everything we *can* choose. We cannot take God by surprise, on that I think most Christians will agree. God Himself is three in one, He is familiar with the idea of multiplicity. Why wouldn’t He have multiple Plans for us, in branched form, and still call it One Plan?