February 18: When God Rewrites Your Plans

Sharon Campbell-Danvers 
Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church 

When God Rewrites Your Plan

Key Text: Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

I am quite certain that there have been many plans God has either closed, dismissed, or shut the door on. And if we are honest, the human part of us sometimes gets upset, even with God.

You invested so much in that plan. You gave time. You gave energy. You gave resources. It is not easy to walk away from something you believed was ordained.

Consider the relationship you poured into emotionally, spiritually, and financially. Perhaps you were even engaged to be married and then the plans shifted.

Why, God?
What have I done to deserve this?

Consider being married, faithful, and committed, and still the relationship ends. Imagine praying for a job, fasting for it, finally achieving it, and then suddenly it is gone.

What do we do when God rewrites what we were certain He approved?

Jeremiah 29:11 was spoken to people in exile. They were displaced, disappointed, and disoriented. They had plans too. They did not plan for captivity. They did not plan for seventy years of waiting. Yet God declared, “I know the plans I have.”

Notice, He did not say, “I know the plans you made.” He said, “I know the plans I have.” There is a difference.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

We plan from what we can see. God plans from what He knows.

We see love. He sees longevity.
We see opportunity. He sees outcome.
We see the present. He sees the future.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8 and 9

Could it be that God is strategically redefining your purpose? Could it be that the change was meant to save you and not destroy you? Could it be that the God who knows the end from the beginning is protecting you from something you could not see?

Sometimes the closed door is not rejection. It is redirection. Sometimes the loss is not punishment. It is preservation. Sometimes what feels like devastation is actually divine intervention.

Instead of asking, Why did this happen to me, consider asking, What is God positioning me for?

What if this shift is preparation? What if this ending is protection? What if this disappointment is development?

You may have invested much, and that makes walking away painful. But investment does not override divine purpose.

If God closed it, trust that He saw something you did not. The same God who allowed the door to close is the God who said, “I know the plans.”

His plans are never accidental. His purposes are never careless. His endings are never without intention.

Prayer

Lord, when You rewrite my plans, steady my heart. When I do not understand the shift, anchor me in Your promise. Help me trust that what You close is not to harm me, but to give me hope and a future. Even when I cannot see it. Amen.