Devotionals for the Heart: Why God's plans are better than our own

God’s Ways Are Greater Than Mine
A devotional by Hannah Benson

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isaiah 55:9 (ESV)

Trusting that God knows best can be a difficult lesson to learn. If you’re anything like me, then I’m sure you have plans. Perhaps hopes and dreams that eventually become plans. Maybe you’re planning to go to college or pursue a career that you’ve long admired as a child.

As much as we try to, the fact is that we don’t have control over everything in our lives. When God’s plans don’t line up with our own, it’s tempting to become angry.

I’ve been there.

When it comes to long-time choices like careers or even smaller decisions like what groups to join, classes to take, or trips to embark on, we may have our plans. But at some point, if we go ahead without truly seeking God, He will intervene and show us that it was not His plan.

Now, that might sound harsh, and like I said before, it can be a tough pill to swallow.

But God only has our ultimate best interest in mind. When we truly surrender to God and His will for our lives, we will find that His plans are so much better than our own.

I remember when I was a child, I had plans to pursue acting full-time. I thought that perhaps I would get a job in the Christian film industry. I began heading down that path and focused on acting. Looking back, God was trying to get ahold of me and show me that acting wasn’t all He had for me. But in my stubborn deafness, I refused to listen until one day God revealed to me that He had other plans.

At the time, I inwardly rebelled against them. Acting was part of my plan, and I didn’t want to change my plan. When God revealed to me that the plans I had for myself weren’t what He had for me, it was incredibly disappointing at first. No one likes to realize that their entire life plan isn’t the path they should be going down.

Maybe my plan sounds less dramatic than your “entire life plan.” Maybe it’s your goals for this year, this month, or tomorrow. Maybe it’s a job opportunity that logic tells you should take but you know in your heart God wants you to trust Him and choose another, less “obvious” option.

I encourage you if you don’t know what God’s plans are for you, ask Him. He will show you. Maybe we won’t know where we’re supposed to be 10 years from now. That’s okay. But He will guide us through each day. And if our hearts are in tune with His Spirit, then I believe that He will unveil His plan for each of us. Sometimes God’s plans for us unfold slowly and not as quickly as we would like, but we can trust that He will show us His plans for our life in His perfect time.

Let’s Pray:
Dear Father God, please forgive me for following my own plan. Please help me to be in tune with You and to listen when You call. Father, I want to hear from You! Please help me realize that I don’t need to know every single part of Your plan for my life right now. Teach me how to rest in You and trust You to make everything clear to me. In Jesus’s Name, I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “Control” by for KING & COUNTRY. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Hannah Benson is a Jesus-follower who’s passionate about sharing the love of Christ with others. 

From the time she could hold a pen, she was writing. But it wasn’t until she was sixteen that she began to seriously follow God’s calling to write a novel. Hannah is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and has at least four novels in the works. For the past five years, she has been involved with her local Biblical theater company. She wants to show others the love of Jesus through the creative arts.

When she’s not acting or working on her upcoming novel, you can find Hannah laughing with her siblings, cuddling her little fluffy dog, or reading books (usually historical fiction or fantasy stories). You can read more of Hannah’s writings on her blog or on her Instagram where she strives to write content that leaves others feeling encouraged.

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Connect with Hannah:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahlbensonwrites/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Hannah-Lynn-Writer/100073790792576/
Blog: www.loveunconditional.blog