God Doesn't Have a Big Plan for Your Life
Living faithful, ordinary, and obscure
A Good Lie
He was at least twenty years old the year he lead my 6th grade Vacation Bible School group, and I was twelve. But age was just a number, and I was certain that I would grow up and marry that man. Randy was going to Bible college to be a missionary. He loved sharing the gospel. He was passionate about people in other countries who had never heard about Jesus. My twelve-year-old heart was passionate about Randy. God had a big plan for his life and I wanted to be a part of it.
Then he got married to a girl he met at college. I went to their wedding with my family. It was a bit devastating. I might have kept my dessert napkin with their names on it for a few years. She was not really interested in being a missionary, and instead they ended up settling down in a nearby small town and having a few children. I was sure she had ruined God’s big plan. (Not that I ended up being a missionary either.)
“God has a big plan for your life.”
How many times have I heard this phrase from someone older than me trying to encourage me and my peers? And how many times have I used it while being a youth pastor’s wife trying to support and encourage teens to live their lives for God? But what if that phrase is a lie?
What if God doesn’t have a big plan for most of our lives? What if it’s not about becoming a Christian celebrity or influencer? What if it’s not about joining a mission team and working miracles for God?
What if God’s plan for most of us is to live normal, boring, ordinary, obscure lives?
What if His plan is for us to faithfully work a job that we don’t really enjoy? What if it’s to be a stay-at-home mom while the kids are young even when it drives us crazy? What if His plan is singleness? What if it includes suffering and pain? What if there is no big, glamourous plan? Is that okay?
Hard Truth
I’ve met young adults who have joined ministries like YWAM or World Race, who go away for months or years and have amazing, intense spiritual experiences, and then struggle big time to acclimate back into the real world. Why does this happen? Why do many of them come home and walk away from their faith for a while? Why do they struggle to live ordinary lives?
I wrote a couple of other Substack letters and did some podcasts about this. So many of you might know my thoughts about the spiritual and emotional manipulation that happens with young adults and my significant hesitations with the organizations I mentioned. In case you want to catch up, here are my most recent podcasts and also a link to my Substack letter.
It is hard to leave a place that is highly spiritualized and come back into the normal world. It can make us feel guilt and shame when we can’t maintain the spiritual high that we felt when we were surrounded by constant ministry and spiritual elements. But the vast majority of us are called to live normal, boring lives.
Yes, I write, podcast, and speak a little bit. But most of my time is spent working my job, being with my family, and doing necessary chores around the house. I do not have a glamorous life. And that’s okay.
The Candle of Peace
Today is the second Sunday of Advent. If you are celebrating, we will light the Peace Candle—also known as the Bethlehem candle. Jesus was born in a crowded house, in a tiny town, in a small nation. His birth was humble and quiet. He spent around thirty years working a normal job in an obscure town that people laughed at: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Jesus never sought fame. He never tried to be an influencer or a celebrity. From outward appearances, God didn’t even have a big plan for His life. He only had twelve disciples. Crowds continually left him. The religious leaders hated him. People constantly misunderstood him. He didn’t even have a home or a family of his own.
And yet, Jesus came to bring peace that passes understanding to everyone who would listen. His ordinary, obscure, faithful life changed the world.
God has plans for each of us; I don’t doubt that at all. But those plans probably aren’t big or fantastic. They are probably kind of boring, and that’s okay!
Let’s seek to be faithful in our everyday, ordinary lives as we walk through this Advent season leading up to Christmas. Let’s do the simple things we’ve been called to do and the ordinary things we have to do in a way that demonstrates our love for God and His love for the world. Let’s bring peace to people as we follow Jesus every day.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or comments. You can find me on Threads, Instagram, Facebook, my website, and on my original podcast. I’d love to connect with you on any of these places!
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I don’t know about big plans for our lives, but I do believe God has “bite-size“ plans in accordance with Ephesians 2:10.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.“
If God had big plans for my life, I've found ways to mess up those plans. Today, almost a half century old, I wish I'd had more wherewithal to consider my own plans for being productive a bit at a time. You know, working the steady job rather than dreaming about God's big plans for ... whatever. Instead, I sat around and waited for God to work.
Genesis seems clear that we were placed here to do work.
Let's start small and be OK if small is all there is for us.
Thanks for this piece.