This Was Never in the Plan

By Crystal Drake I know people who have watched their child, a parent, or a spouse or sibling languish in pain during their last days on earth to a disgusting disease or illness. This was never in the plan.

I have friends who lost their own children in tragic accidents. The rest of us can’t even imagine the heartbreak and anguish this type of loss must bring.  But, tragedy doesn’t seem to discriminate. This was never in the plan.

What about parents whose children have been kidnapped and they never know what happened to them? What about the parent who absent-mindedly left their child in a hot car or was distracted at the pool?  What about the child that became addicted to drugs and the parents who have to witness their self-destruction daily?  Or what about children who grow up and then shoot their innocent classmates?  None of this was ever in the plan.

I have friends whose marriages fell apart.  They just couldn’t make it work.  The unkind words couldn’t be forgiven, the rejection or betrayal was just too deep to reconcile.  The intimacy was forever broken.  Some were abused emotionally and physically and have yet to recover. And even though some remain together, the past is ever present.  This was never in the plan.

I have friends whose families are torn apart because of disagreements that couldn’t be resolved.  Siblings don’t speak to one another, family members tip-toe around social gatherings avoiding eye contact with one another and trying to appear light-hearted and unaffected.  But in reality, the conflict caused deep emotional pain and feelings of mistrust and suspicion linger in the air like fog on an early morning and everyone feels its uncomfortable presence.  This was never in the plan.

Scripture says that God has a plan for our future.  (Jeremiah 29:11)  It says that His plan is for us to prosper and be blessed.  So what gets in the way of His plan?  Why don’t we live picture perfect lives?  Well, I won’t pretend that I know the answer and I pray that my ponderings won’t offend anyone.  Please know that I have read the book of Job, and I know that my “little” mind will probably never be able to comprehend the full truth of why bad things happen. Yet, I think it’s instinctive to try to make sense of things.

So, perhaps our free will got in the way or maybe it was circumstances we didn’t have control over that caused bad things to happen.  Perhaps it was destructive behaviors, pride, power, ego, control issues, bad genes, bad choices, bad drivers, bad accidents, bad timing, wrong place – wrong time, bad doctors, bad parents, bad teachers, bad, bad, bad!  We all have to agree that “bad” aka “evil” is present and is a powerful foe.

Therefore, we have to fight our way out from under the plans that went wrong and find a new plan in which to trust.  Some of my friends, who lost children, are now devoting their lives to helping other parents in the same situation.  Some divorced people become marriage counselors in hopes that they might save someone else’s marriage.  Recovered drug addicts make perfect counselors because they can truly “relate”.  Indeed, things don’t always turn out as planned…but life goes on.  Don’t quit on God because you don’t understand why, He may be hurting over it just as much as you are.  Remember that “Jesus wept”.  I refuse to believe that unconquered evil was ever part of His plan.