When Our Plans Fail

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It’s been a bit silent here on the blog for a good, long while now. That wasn’t planned, but I’ve been learning a lot about life when plans fail

A year ago in March we were planning and getting ready for a home addition. I had a great plan to not let it interrupt our daily life too much. Our school, bedtime, and daily routines would not be upended while on my watch. That great plan lasted all the way to March 27th, the day we broke ground. Somehow when the entire front yard is torn up, contractors are in and out, and construction dust covers every flat surface, routines suffer and fall apart. Home additions have a way of creating stacks of failed plans.  

Little did I know that the home addition was going to be only one of the disruptions of our year.  In April, we found out I was pregnant with our sixth baby. How excited we were and started making plans for how we could have the addition completed by January when the baby would come. I had plans again. Plans for rocking baby while looking out my big windows with the fire going. Plans for lots of cozy snuggles while drinking hot cocoa and watching the older kids play in the snow. 

But that plan came crashing down when I started spotting toward the end of June. My heart was crushed when I found I had carried our baby straight to the doorway of heaven at 11 weeks and 2 days. There are some aches in life that nothing prepares you for. This was one of them. Death ruins plans. 

The recovery and grief further disrupted my plans. The home addition slowed down as Wilbur took care of the kids and me while I recovered. Why couldn’t I just get over it and get back to life? For weeks, a short walk to the garden left me needing to sit down and rest. What irony that the tree stump that I use as a garden chair just happened to be situated right by my Job’s tears plant. (More on that in a future post). 

Just as I started to feel better physically and felt my head start to come above the waves of grief, I discovered I was pregnant again. What delight! What fear! And along with the news of pregnancy came a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s. Sickness ruins plans; after all, who plans to be sick? The reality of carrying our rainbow baby while knowing that Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism put me at a greater risk for miscarriage again was a faith-growing experience. (More on that in a future post too. At least that’s the plan. )

I could go on with the list of ruined plans that happened, but I think you know exactly how it goes. We can plan and think our plans are good, infallible even. Yet, something happens and those plans get ruined. Hardships come. Devastating news is given.  I’m sure you have had your own share of such instances of that as well.

What to Do When Plans Fail

The reality of this life is that we can’t plan every detail. After all, we are not in control. During all those events that left me feeling like life was spinning out of control when plans failed, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God didn’t change. He was still the same as He had always been and the same as He always will be.

Though Satan would like to confuse us and cause us to doubt when our lives don’t look like we think they should, we can cling to the truth that God is our rock, a very firm foundation on which we can rest securely even amid ruined plans. 

When those challenges kept coming at me, I clung to Psalm 61 especially verses 1-3: 

“Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;

from the end of the earth, I call to you
    when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
    that is higher than I.

for you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the enemy.

Not only does God provide a firm foundation for us when our plans fail or when life is hard, but He also is the Master Planner. He is the One who sees the big picture of all eternity. His plans for our lives are so much bigger than just us, just this year, or just this lifetime. His plans don’t get ruined. That is a truth to rest in when our plans go awry, and also what I’ll be delving into more in my next post.

Until then, may you find encouragement in this verse whether your days go according to plan…or not.

“But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” (Psalm 33:11)

I’d love to know some of your favorite verses for when our plans fail. Drop them in the comments below.

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