What Do You Do When Things Don’t Go as Planned? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley

Are you a planner? Because of a busy schedule, I make lists so I don’t forget anything, but what do we do when things don’t go as planned,—and it’s not our fault? 

We record radio shows once a month and do interviews on Zoom. However, yesterday, our second interview was a no-show. His book was great. The topic was engaging, and I thought our audience would be drawn in. So I stared at the computer screen for about a half hour—waiting in anticipation—and contacted both him and his publicist, but he was unreachable. I held out hope that we would eventually get the interview recorded yesterday because it was already produced, but it did not happen. I was very disappointed.

When things don’t go according to the plan, how should we react? 

As difficult as it may seem, we need to hold on loosely to our plans. If we put God in the center of day, there is a good reason why a scenario did not work out. James 4:14–16 says, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

When a project does not come to fruition, it forces us to reevaluate the original plan. We have to move back to center and give it to the Lord all over again. We also have to let go of the idea if it was never meant to be. 

I am still hoping there was a good reason why our guest was unable to fulfill his commitment and that he or his publicist will eventually get back to me. If not, I have to trust that the interview was not a part of God’s plan and there will be someone God chooses to replace him. 

What about you? When life does not go according to plan, will you trust God with the directional change?

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21, ESV).

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