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For a long time I used to say that I was living in God’s Plan B for my life, and that even though it was Plan B, it was a good plan. And I guess I really thought that because I messed up my life so much, God had to come up with a different plan for my life and let me settle for something less than he had planned for me. It’s as though I thought that God looked down at my mess and said, “Goodness, what am I going to do now? How did Mary get herself in such a mess? Guess I’ll have to come up with Plan B.”
But I began to take a second look at my theology and realized that if I truly believed in the sovereignty of God, then I had to believe that God doesn’t have any Plan Bs. It’s all Plan A with God. You see, believing that God is sovereign means you believe he is always, at all times, in every situation in control! Nothing ever takes him by surprise. Before the world ever began, my days were written in his book.
Psalm 139:16b: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
If you don’t believe that God is sovereign, then you diminish God to be helpless and clueless about lots of things. But the Bible makes it clear that God is in ultimate control of the world from the international scene to a sparrow that falls.
Isaiah 46:10: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
Psalm 115:3: “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”
In addition to believing that God is sovereign, the incredible good news is that he is also merciful. If you are born from above, it is because God has shown you great mercy, has forgiven your sins and given you new life in Christ and eternal life in heaven. Because God is sovereign and nothing can thwart his plan—because it’s all Plan A with God—then we know that his plan for us cannot be frustrated. As John Piper puts it:
“Nothing, absolutely nothing befalls those who ‘love God and are called according to his purpose’ but what is for our deepest and highest good. Therefore the mercy and the sovereignty of God are the twin pillars of my life.”
Whatever is happening to you right now, whatever mess you’re in, whatever difficulty you face, I want you to take comfort in knowing that God’s plan for your life has not been ruined. It’s all Plan A.