#5. There is No Plan B

I have a new favorite fictional character.  His name is “Frisson l’écureuil,” or Scaredy Squirrel in English.  Because life outside his tree is full of known and unknown dangers, Scaredy Squirrel always takes the proper precautions before venturing out into the world.

He has an emergency evacuation plan,

a plan for making the Ideal Friend,

even a plan for avoiding the creatures from his nightmares.

But in each story, when Scaredy Squirrel implements his plan, something unexpected happens.And then Scaredy Squirrel exclaims,

“This was NOT part of the plan!”

Oh, Scaredy Squirrel.  How similar we are. 

A couple of months ago, I was struggling to get through a difficult situation.  There was nothing I could do to change it, and I was tired of crying about it.  Still, something about it felt wrong to me, and I couldn't put my finger on it.  One day, I found myself crying out to God as I prayed, "God, this just isn't where I saw my life going!"

And then it hit me.  The problem wasn’t that I was on the wrong path.  I just didn’t realize which path I was on.  I thought I was headed straight, and then I rounded a curve.  God knew all along that bend in the road was coming.  He knew when I’d reach it, and He knows what’s coming next.  I didn’t somehow wander off into uncharted territory, leaving Him scrambling to find another pathway for me, a “Plan B.” 

There is only ever one plan:  God’s plan, Plan A.  We can choose to drag our feet or make a pit stop or even turn around and walk in the opposite direction for a while, but He alone knows where our path leads, and He promises to get us to our destination (Proverbs 16:9).  He also promises that His path is better than the one we would have chosen, even though it might look questionable to us (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28). 

If I can’t imagine a better path than the one I’m on, it’s because my mind is too small.  I haven’t seen all the pathways that are out there.  I might be satisfied with this one, because it’s relatively smooth and there are no snakes or spiders.  But God not only made the map; He made the forest, too.  He knows all the paths, and He knows which one is mine.  He also knows it’s the best one for me.  If I would try to hop on someone else’s path because it looks nice from here, I’d end up at the wrong destination.

If my friend Scaredy Squirrel had stayed in his tree, he would never have discovered his hidden talent.  If he had waited for the 100% Ideal Friend, he would have missed out on another truly great friendship.  And if he had continued to stay up all night to avoid his bad dreams, he would have lived the rest of his life with “decreased energy, memory loss, sleepiness, moodiness, weak reflexes, hallucinations, and confusion.”  :-)

And if I spend my days wishing for what someone else has, I’ll miss out on what God has for me.  I don’t want that.  I don’t want Plan B.  I want Plan A—so no matter how long it takes, no matter how winding the path seems, I’ll keep walking, because I know it will take me where I need to go (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). 

...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  -Philippians 1:6