Sorry about not getting a post out the last few days, but I’ve been under the weather. I was diagnosed with Strep throat 9 days ago, started antibiotics, and, since I was feeling better, flew to my Lifestyle Medicine Conference last Saturday.
The first day went well, but then this bug hit with a vengeance. I ended up staying in my hotel room most of Tuesday, watching the conference online. Thankfully, I was able to catch an early flight home Wednesday and spent the last couple days just moping around the house, recovering. It was definitely not how I’d planned for this week to go.
Life doesn’t always go as we plan. It doesn’t always go as God plans either. People blame God all the time when their plans go amuck, but it was never God’s plan for people to get sick, for marriages to fail, for nations to go to war, or for people to die. No, God’s plans for you are “plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).
The one we should be blaming when our plans go astray and bad things happen is the one who caused all this mess in the first place. Revelation calls him “This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world”. (Revelation 12:9).
Satan has it out for us and he will do anything he can to discourage us or take our eyes off Jesus. Thankfully, he’s fighting a losing battle, because someday soon God’s plans will prevail. On that day, God will seize “the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and [bind] him in chains for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:2).
No longer will Satan be able to mess with God’s plans for us. No longer will he be able to bring sickness and mayhem and death, for on that day God “will wipe every tear from [our] eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Revelation 21:4).
So, this next week, when things don’t go quite as you planned, don’t waste your time blaming God. Instead, choose to trust Him who “causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28). Put your hope in Him and remember, the best is yet to come!