Don't Worry, God's Got A Plan

I wonder why we have to say things like "Don't worry, God has a plan." As I write, I am beset by life situations for which I have no solutions. I have spent the past few years pursuing what I thought was (and still believe to be) the next chapter in our lives. In so doing, I have uprooted my family, routinely abandoned them for the library, and set us up for financial ruin. And all I can say to myself is "Don't worry, God has a plan." If God has a plan then my suffering is necessarily part of that plan and I don't believe that God is in the business of creating suffering. In fact, I believe it to be antithetical to his character to visit suffering on those who love Him. What I want is to confidently assure myself; "Don't worry, God is present." In affirming His presence God is not responsible for my suffering. Quite the opposite. my suffering is responsible for God's presence. 

For me, the difference between "God has a plan" and "God is present" is vast. For one, to hold on the fact that God has a plan requires us to presume He is going to make the suffering cease and then give us a prize for enduring it. As I see it, he is more concerned with transforming us into something more reminiscent of Himself than to help transform us into petulant children expecting daddy to fix all of our problems. Sometimes problems don't get fixed. Sometimes when flood and fire take all that we possess, we don't get it back. Sometimes when children die, parents don't get another shot at being parents. Sometimes when people abuse us, they don't get what they deserve. Is that part of God's plan? I think not. Maybe, just maybe, when nature, death, and other people do us in, God is simply there, quietly telling us to let it go and forgive. Or maybe He is telling us that there is no grand scheme into which our suffering plays. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that God is not required to have a plan. He's God. He's ineffable. Whoever He/She/It is may not have a grand plan for all of this. I mean, if this is a relationship (and I believe it to be so) maybe He's waiting to see what we do before He decides what He'll do next. For us parents, if we are honest, we have to admit that we have an idea about what we want our children to do, say, think, and believe. And then we learn, quickly, that they are willful and at the mercy of their unbounded imagination. And they don't do everything we want them to do and they unwittingly thwart our plans. So we stay fluid and respond with what we hope is wisdom. Part of wisdom is knowing when to let our children suffer, not because they deserve it, but because we want them redeem their suffering for a lesson. 

Maybe God, the "other", is waiting to find out what it is we are going to do before He responds. This is what people in relationships do, isn't it? I believe that He has a plan and that His plan is for all of humanity to be in relationship with Him. For me, someone who prizes his relationship with God, He only need to remind me of His presence and while we strive in our relationship, He can redeem my suffering for a lesson or two. I don't redeem my suffering for more and better things on the other side. My suffering is pain and it is loss. God does not owe me a replacement for what was lost. He only owes me His presence. And it is through His presence that I am transformed into something different than I was before my suffering. Don't worry, God is present.

PAX

Comments

[Ani]

Thanks, Eric. I needed to hear that.
Grace and peace,
Ani