Every summer, the question seems to come up again: “So, do you have any plans?” Vacation plans. Family reunions. Graduation plans. College plans. Retirement plans. We spend a lot of time thinking about what comes next.
Planning isn’t wrong. In fact, God has wired us to look ahead. But if you’ve lived very long, you know life has a way of rewriting our plans. Most of us aren’t exactly where we imagined we’d be ten or twenty years ago. Some have changed careers. Others never expected to lose a job, walk through an illness, experience divorce, or watch someone they love suffer. Even retirement often looks different than we imagined.
Our plans change!
The encouraging truth is that God’s plan doesn’t.
As Stephen stood before the Jewish leaders in Acts 7, he reminded them that God had been working His plan from the very beginning. He walked through the stories they knew so well—Abraham, Joseph, and Moses—not simply to give them a history lesson, but to show them that God had always been moving history toward one person: Jesus.
Abraham trusted God enough to leave the familiar because venturing into the unknown with God was better than staying in the known without Him.
Joseph trusted God’s plan through betrayal, slavery, and prison because he believed that suffering with God was better than comfort without Him. Looking back over his life, he could honestly say, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
Moses learned that God’s wisdom was better than his own. After forty years of trying to accomplish God’s work in his own strength, God transformed him into the humble leader who would deliver Israel.
Each life points to the same truth: God has a plan, He is working His plan, and truth always wins.
Stephen’s audience had missed the most important part of that plan. They had the Law. They had the prophets. They had the temple. Yet they rejected the very One to whom all of those things pointed—Jesus Christ.
The same decision faces every one of us today. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Truth always brings us to a point of decision. We either submit to it or reject it. We can never remain neutral.
The good news is that God’s plan has always been one of reconciliation. Through Jesus, God forgives our sin, restores our relationship with Him, and invites us to become part of His ongoing work in the world.
So make your plans. Dream about the future. Work hard toward your goals. But make sure Jesus is at the center of every plan. Because the greatest place to be isn’t where your plans take you—it’s where God’s plan leads you.
Ted Harris
Associate Pastor