Trusting that God Has a Plan

By Jessica Brodie

Sometimes when life is tough or we woke up off-kilter, it’s hard to see the big picture. We don’t understand God’s plan for our pain, our stress, or our hardship.

You know that cliché about how it’s hard to see the forest when you’re staring at the trees? It’s a common saying for a reason.

When we’re drowning in debt or frazzled by parenting young kids, when we’re facing cancer, COVID, a natural disaster, a failed marriage, or a job loss, we often think we’re alone. Anxiety sprouts and then blossoms. Hopelessness settles in.

But as we are reminded in Romans 8:28, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

God has a plan—even when we cannot see it. Especially when we cannot see it.

Our challenge is to push ourselves aside and trust Him.

Many of us are familiar with the Old Testament story of Joseph, a Hebrew teenager sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers—a terrible betrayal (Genesis 37-50). Joseph was the son most beloved by his father Jacob, also called Israel, and his brothers hated him for it. But God’s plan was always at work. Not only did Joseph cling to God and rise to Egyptian leadership in spite of his shackles, but he eventually saved both Egypt and his family during a time of severe famine.

When his brothers realized their transgression, they fell down before the brother they had once despised.

Joseph wept and responded, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20 ESV).

I imagine the years-ago version of Joseph, stripped of everything and cowering at the hands of his brothers, didn’t have any idea the God of the universe had a master plan to make all this good. But he trusted God anyway.

Though all of Joseph’s hardships, the Bible tells us, “The Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:3). And after Joseph died, his bones were ultimately carried out of Egypt by Moses, the man God called to liberate His people when they, hundreds of years later, endured their own slavery, and buried in his people’s new home, Israel.

Trust God has a plan. We might not see His hand at work, but His hand is always there.

Today’s topic, trusting that God has a plan, is one of 10 included in the free eBook I created to help people shrug off their worries and center themselves in the Lord. Called A God-Centered Life: 10 Faith-Based Practices When You’re Feeling Anxious, Grumpy, or Stressed, the book is FREE for anyone who signs up for my weekly blog. Learn more and get your copy here.

(If you are already a blog subscriber but haven’t gotten your copy, just email me and I’ll send it to you.)