Just a reminder that
nothing has changed
about God’s plan for your life.
So in that spirit, I want to talk about a specific phrase that has been coming up a lot for me recently: Nothing has changed. I first heard this in a conversation with a close friend, and those words quickly became a lifeline to me in the midst of uncertainty.
A week later, while having a tiny breakdown over some of the aforementioned “yet” dreams in my heart, my mother said, “Kylie, nothing has changed about God’s plan for your life.”
I was fairly confident these words, while being uttered by those with whom I’m in close relationship, were not coming from the mind of man; the Holy Spirit was speaking to me.
Since I know that the rhema (spoken) word of God will not contradict His logos, or written word, I went to Scripture searching for biblical evidence of “nothing has changed.” After all, there is nothing new under the sun, and I needed to read the Word to believe my word.
And here began the wrestling match between God’s truth and my ability to believe it. Enjoy my train of thought below…
Because there is nothing new under the sun, we need to read the Word to better believe the words spoken over us.
People messed up God’s intention in the Garden of Eden, so couldn’t it be possible that I messed up God’s intention for my life, making it impossible for these “yet” dreams to come to pass? But nothing is impossible for God. So that can’t be it.
The Israelites wandered for forty years and there was a whole generation who never set foot in the Promised Land because of their unbelief and idolatry and a mess of other stuff. So what if I’m like Moses and die with the promise in sight, never able to actually get there?
But I do believe, and I’m pretty sure there’s no golden calf in my living room. Also, you’re not Moses, Kylie… get over yourself.
Let’s go back to God’s intention in the Garden – did people actually mess that up? God’s intention before the fall was for us to choose and enjoy Him. Isn’t that still His intention?
So did we mess up God’s plan, or did He just accomplish it in an unexpected way?
I don’t actually think anything changed. I think He just found a way to do it in spite of us.
“Bingo,” said the Holy Spirit (probably).
Did we actually mess up God’s plan, or did He just find a way to do it in spite of us?
I went looking for scriptural evidence and found it in the whole entire Bible. But God is specific, and He reminded me of Paul’s experience on the island of Malta. Malta might be the physical embodiment of “when life doesn’t go according to plan,” so I dug into Acts 27 and 28 to see what I could learn. I’ll summarize for the sake of time.
Paul is a prisoner – again – and has to get to Rome to stand before Caesar (that’s in Acts 25, but this whole thing kinda starts in chapter 23). He gets on a ship bound for Italy, and they encounter some mild storms, forcing them to sail the safe route for a while. This gave them more control over their circumstances (Pause… let the Holy Spirit minister that part for a sec…).
Then the storm intensifies, and despite Paul’s encouragement to pause the trip, they go on. They wind up throwing off cargo and even the tools necessary to sail successfully in an effort to stabilize things. Eventually we read that “the terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars until at last all hope was gone” (Acts 27:20).
Sometimes God gives us a destination, and we formulate our own route to arrive there, forgetting that He still holds the map.
No sun or stars meant no navigation day or night. They couldn’t know where they were or in what direction they were heading, and these are the conditions that precede the statement that all hope was lost. I related immediately to that sentiment. Maybe you can, too.
But the thing is, Paul had a word from God. An angel appeared to him back in Acts 23:11 telling him that he must preach the gospel in Rome. Nothing had changed. Sometimes God gives us a destination, and we formulate our own route to arrive there, forgetting that He still holds the map. So in the midst of the storm, Paul declares, “…take courage, for I believe God. It will be just as He said” (Acts 27:25).
There is so much detail I’m skipping over for the sake of word count – like the fact that they cut the ties to lifeboats, so they had no backup survival plan. Because God isn’t interested in our backup plans. He is the whole plan all by Himself.
God isn’t interested in our backup plans.
He is the whole plan all by Himself.
Wow. Thank you for this reminder. Sometimes I find myself in situations where it felt like the calling was not on my life, but not only is the calling still there, his entire plan behind it still is. I just need to Step into it. Appreciate you!
Yes!! Praise God for that revelation. It is so much easier to believe in what we see – praying that we have the grace and fortitude to truly walk by faith. What’s for us is still for us!