Embrace Your AlmostSample

When Your Plans Don’t Go According to Plan

Although the circumstances vary, our plans are inevitably going to fall through in some way at some point because we live in a broken world. When something good goes sideways—something that was supposed to be beautiful and incredible—it can be natural to focus on how we think we failed or let others down. But when it comes to our greatest dream, whether that’s to be a parent or grow a company or rescue children from human trafficking, it is not a test. It’s a journey.

One experience along the way—whether it breaks our hearts or ends in the outcome we wanted—is not the defining factor. The true measure of our success is how well we love others in the process and how open we are to what God is doing in our lives.

In other words, living a successful life is less about achieving our greatest dreams and more about how we keep loving—and keep fighting and keep dreaming—even when those dreams fall apart.

Sometimes that means letting go of what isn’t right—at least not right for now. It means releasing our grip on what we thought was so important and making room for God to do something we never expected: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19).

Maybe you’re sensing that the new city you moved to isn’t the right fit for you, or perhaps the degree you’ve spent years preparing for no longer seems worth pursuing. You know it may be time to try a new thing, but you keep pushing forward on the same path because you feel guilty for giving up on a dream.

The good news? When things don’t go according to plan, God invites us to draw closer to Him—to realize again what matters most, rediscover the depth of who we are, and continue to pursue Him and the dreams He has for us. Even when we can take only one tiny step forward at a time.

God, what new thing do You want to do in my life right now? What dreams do You have for me? Please open my heart and mind to what You have planned when I begin to grip my hands too tightly around my own plans. Amen.