Your Will Be Done

There are prayers we love to pray.

“Lord, bless what I’m doing.”

“Open the right doors.”

“Guide my steps.”

And then there are the prayers we don’t always love to pray, because they’re kind of scary.

They’re scary because we have a picture or idea of how we imagine this thing going, and we know we’re speaking to God Almighty—who doesn’t think like us and knows infinitely more than we do—who may not answer in a way we would’ve chosen for ourselves.

A few weeks ago, I prayed one of those.

On this particular morning, I’d been thinking deeply about my future. I haven’t talked much about my plans here, but if you’ve followed me on Youtube, you know I have plans. Good plans, I think. Plans I’ve prayed over for the past year.

Leaving active duty.

Going to seminary.

Becoming a better communicator of God’s Word.

Growing as an entrepreneur.

For a long time, that roadmap has felt clear.

But that morning, my prayer was very different.

The Prayer

“Lord, I feel confident about my plans but I’m holding them loosely. If You want to add to them or shake them up, I welcome that. Have Your way.”

I wasn’t expecting an answer before lunch.

The Interruption

A few hours later, my leadership called me into their office. These were the same leaders who knew my plans. In fact, they’d even helped me move toward them. I walked into their office and to my surprise, they asked if I would consider interviewing for a position that they felt was an absolute perfect fit for me—even though it directly conflicted with my current plan.

To be honest, had I seen the position advertised, I would’ve scrolled past it without a second thought. It simply didn’t fit the timeline I’d worked so hard to build. And I’m confident I would’ve dismissed my leadership too, had they not presented it in a way that made me stop and genuinely consider it.

My first reaction wasn’t excitement. It was a mix of gratitude (that they considered me a fit for this very sought after position) and confusion (that they were presenting this opportunity to me when they KNEW how solid my plan and timeline was).

A year-long position that extended my active duty career would delay everything I’d been working toward.

I’d add close to a year to my contract instead of leaving active duty. Seminary would move back. My transition into my next career in the Reserves would move back. Accepting the position meant that my very carefully organized picture of the future would not be so organized anymore.

I really did want to disregard this moment, but then I remembered the prayer I’d said not even three hours prior—

Not that I needed to give permission for God to interrupt my plans, but I did, and He seemed to be answering IMMEDIATELY.

Now, as you can probably guess, I wasn’t gung ho about the opportunity. But I couldn’t write off the timing and manner of presentation as a coincidence. At least not yet.

Seeking Confirmation

My leadership placated me by reminding me that submitting my name didn’t mean I’d get the position and I could always continue with my original plan if nothing came of it. Which made me feel better because if this was from God, I didn’t want to dismiss it and if it wasn’t, I was sure I wouldn’t get the position. It’s not like the position was automatically mine. I still had to be vetted and go through multiple interviews. So I gave a Kanye shrug and prayed:

Lord if this is from you, and you are indeed shaking my plans up and if in this position is where you want me to be, have me to breeze through. If not, slam the door.

I’ll be honest, I was very okay with the door being slammed. Very okay with that.

Well let me tell you, what happened next happened VERY QUICKLY. I unexpectedly and unpreparedly interviewed for the position the very same day—without even wanting the job yet—and not even an hour later, I was notified that I was selected to be pushed for the final interview.

The final interview came days later (which I’m grateful for, because I had more time to wrap my head around what God might be doing) and hours after interviewing I was notified that I was selected. I didn’t prep for this one either. To say I breezed through might be an understatement.

Being selected for the position truly is an honor, but this isn’t a testimony about getting a new position.

It’s about what God was teaching me.

The Lesson

You know, because I have free will and a self-centered human mind, sometimes I forget that God has sent me here for a purpose, and that He already has things planned for me.

I often pray for God’s will to be done. I ask Him to align my heart with His and to lead me wherever He wants me to go. But if I’m being honest I think I still expect His will to look a lot like mine.

I think that’s partly a product of our fallen nature and partly because we don’t always know what God’s will looks like. So we subconsciously fill in the gaps with our own ideas or expectations. Whatever the reason, this experience exposed that tendency in me.

I’m not saying plans shouldn’t be made. We should plan—and diligently. But our plans should always be held loosely, and we should sincerely invite God to interrupt them if He has something better.

As much as I love the promise that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, I don’t want to spend my life asking Him to patch up my faulty plans. I’d rather walk in His from the beginning.

Sometimes we ask God to lead, while hoping He’ll lead us exactly where we were already planning to go. I’m very guilty of that.

But to surrender is something entirely different.

Living With Open Hands

Proverbs 3:5-6 is easy to quote. It’s harder to walk in when God begins writing a different story and timeline than the one we’ve been carrying around.

This experience has taught me that holding my plans loosely is about remaining available for interruptions, unexpected assignments, and doors I never would have knocked on myself. It’s taught me that it is safe to surrender.

This moment also reminded me of how intentional God is.

I can see God’s hand all over this. The timing. The people. The favor. Even the fact that my new career field would have an opening around the time this position ends. None of it felt random. This was clearly orchestrated.

I begin this new role very soon and I already know that it’s going to stretch me in ways I haven’t been stretched. It’s going to teach me things I would not have the unique opportunity to learn if everything unfolded according to my original plan. Things that are probably going to serve me greatly in future seasons.

I still love the plans I had and I don’t think God is removing them entirely, I think He’s delaying them for a purpose that He’s slowly revealing. He could rewrite them entirely, I don’t know, but after this experience, I’m a little less attached to my timeline and a lot more confident in His.

So if you’re standing at the intersection of your plans and God’s invitation into something different, I want to leave you with three encouragements.