The Wisdom and Scope of Whose Plan?

As I wrote in my last post, I've been spending quite a bit of time lately processing what the next step in my life is going to be. Most of us have, and all of us will go through points in our lives when these decisions and opportunities present themselves to us. But what is our response?

Ephesians 3:14 came to mind last time I spent some time thinking about it: 'When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plans, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father...' I was reflecting on that for a few minutes, when the thought came to my mind, 'It's the wisdom and scope of God's plan.'

My amazing mother wrote me a letter last week. In it she asked, 'So what are those things that are most important to you: School? Ministry? Relationship?' That question helped me to narrow my focus and choices. But as I tried to look beyond this summer, this year, the next five years, the thought became (as it often does) overwhelming. Not in resignation, but in an attempt at surrender, I simply said, 'God, what do you want?'

That thought shouldn't be new to any Christian. But it clicked something for me. So often, we make decisions based on what we want or what is important to us right at the time. But it's not our ability to plan that God wants. It is God's plan that should overwhelm us and bring us to our knees. What if we set our own ideas aside, and simply asked God, 'What do you want?'