I want to write an essay saying the statistical chance of God having a specific plan for your life is roughly 1 in 227. I’d base that statistic on scripture, because scripturally, for every one person God had a specific plan for, there were 226 He did not. Joseph was in, Benjamin was out and so on.
Okay, I haven’t actually done the math. It may be 1 in 250 or 1 in 95, but that is hardly the point. The point is we think God is going to tell us exactly what to do, but chances are, He isn’t. It’s just not a Biblical idea.
God does have a general desire for everybody, for them to be reunited with the Trinity through Christ, and for them to have food and shelter and relationships, but I don’t believe God has mapped out a plan for your every day, or even for your every year.
My friends who disagree and think God has a specific plan for everybody are mostly sitting around waiting to hear from God. Meanwhile, God’s plan for them, apparently, is to shop at Bed Bath and Beyond and quote the latest Saturday Night Live skit. Quite the plan.
I contend with this idea for a number of reasons, but the main reason is that I don’t think God is a control freak.
Imagine visiting a friends house for dinner for the first time. You sit down at the table and the father, who sits at the head of the table, tells each of the kids, and the wife for that matter, what and when to eat. Then he tells them what to wear to bed, when they will be getting up, where they will be going to college and who they will be married to. Later, you tell your friend you thought their dad might be a bit controlling. You secretly believe their family to be dysfunctional. But your friend is offended. They think it’s perfectly normal to want to please their father in everything they do. And they are right, it is appropriate to want to please ones father. The only problem is, their father is NUTS!
God, on the other hand, isn’t nuts.
If God is fathering us, He is helping us discover what is good, right, pure, and worthy to pursue. He teaches us morality and ethics, but also gave us a heart filled with desire and longing. It’s as though God sets before us a big sheet of butcher paper and hands us a box of crayons and tells us to dream.
I’ve a friend whose wife is a counselor who does this very experiment with kids she counsels. She gives them a sheet of paper and some crayons, and based on how they respond, she can tell whether or not the child has a dysfunctional relationship with their parents.
But I could be wrong. Here’s how you know, based on scripture, whether God has a specific plan for your life:
1. If you are a virgin and you get pregnant anyway.
2. If your donkey talks to you.
3. If an angel wants to wrestle.
If any of this happens to you, God is definitely at work. He also wants you to see a counselor.
And there are a few more. You get the point. If God has something specific for you, you’ll know, I promise. But if He is setting a box of crayons down in front of you (a box of crayons called life) then by all means draw. He’s taught you right from wrong, good from bad, beautiful from profane, so draw. He will be with you, proud of you, cheering you on, so draw. He loves you, so draw in the inspiration of the knowledge of His love. Draw a purple horse, a red ocean, a nine-legged dog, it doesn’t matter. Lets stop being so afraid. Lets live, and show the world what it really means to be grateful we don’t live in a dysfunctional family.
Wow. That really was incredible. Thank you so much for those words. You’re an amazing writer. I’m sorry I don’t know who you are, but being that I enjoy writing as well, I’d enjoy sharing a conversation some time.
What about Joshua, Esther, Ruth, Deborah, David, Daniel, and so many others that God used in big ways? They were ordinary people like me. God had a specific plan for them. He has a specific plan for me. His plan isn’t centered around me. But he has a plan for this world and a purpose for me in that plan. Sometimes, it’s big like leaving home for a strange new land. Sometimes, it’s small like telling the adulterer how to find forgiveness. So far, no talking donkeys.
i agree with u but its confusing when you wait i dont know until when and they aint anything happening
Hi Donald,
Great thoughts on a great subject. Another way of saying it might be that for every time God gives someone a specific task to do, He tells another “whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it for I am with you.”
I think that much of the grappling with this subject comes from our ideas surrounding God’s “calling”. For many in my dad’s generation, those who felt “called” into ministry naturally went into seminary and then into church work. For many in that generation, the call was to a profession…a career. I still shudder when the last day of youth camp features a parade of those who feel “called” into full time ministry; what does this say to all the future lawyers, teachers, ice cream vendors, etc. about God’s call on their life?
I have to remind myself, that my calling is not to a profession but to the person of Jesus and He’s not sitting there like a spiritual
bourgeois ready to assign my life task(s). More simply put, God’s will is not the pressure of hitting some bulls-eye but the freedom of launching as many arrows as my hand finds strength to launch. Thanks for taking on this subject.
Ben,
I totally resonate with your thoughts in your second paragraph. Recently, I attended a youth camp where that happened, and I thought the exact same thing. It’s like anything outside of “ministry” is a lower calling, when, in reality, whatever a Christ-follower does vocationally IS (or at least SHOULD be) ministry.
I’ve struggled so much choosing a vocation because I’ve been waiting on God to open the sky and drop the answer down on me. I have so many different interests, and I’ve had trouble figuring out which one to pursue. This article has helped me tremendously, as I’ve currently been in a vicious struggle about my “calling.” Ironically, I’m actually resigning from full-time ministry because I’m sure that’s not the calling on my life. I know that would almost be heretical to say in front of many Christians, but it’s the truth. So now what? I’ve been trying to decide about pursuing a specific business venture. I’m going for it.
This post is great and right on time for me. Valid points, Donald. When you write your book, I’ll be buying it and promoting it.
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. Really brought things back to perspective! Thank you for sharing.
[...] read an article that Don Miller wrote (he’s written books such as Blue Like Jazz), where he talks about how [...]
I think God does have a plan specific to each person…but, since he did give us the freedom to choose, if we do choose another path, it doesn’t mean we are outside of God’s will forever. His plans are perfect for us ( who else knows us as …well) and our plans for ourselves are many times not so perfect, but that doesn’t mean God won’t bless the path we’ve chosen or that he can no longer use us…it’s kinda like if the path split into 3 directions…one is the path God created for us, one goes the opposite direction, and one kinda goes all over the place but eventually ends up at eternal life with God…we still end up with him, it just wasn’t the most perfect way…See More
[...] you should read a blog by Don Miller because he is awesome. Tweet Tags: Andrew Farley, Donald Miller, Finding God's Will For [...]
[...] you should read a blog by Don Miller, because he is awesome. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this [...]
The problem I have with your theory, Don, is this: it implies that God created us randomly with no real purpose other than to explore — for our own, personal interest — the life that is around us, with God sitting up in heaven as some sort of divine baby sitter. You attempt to make an analogy between God and and a healthy earthly parent, who allows his/her child to roam and “paint” freely, discovering life for him-/herself at will. That theory is consistent with God allowing us free will, but it is inconsistent with a God who made us each to have unique and meaningful roles in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). Your analogy also quickly breaks down when you consider that your earthly mom or dad didn’t create you in the sense of intentionally weaving together your innermost being, as Psalm 139 indicates is true of God, the ultimate creator. Sure, earthly mom and dad intentionally (or not) procreated, but they had no say on how you would turn out as an individual, what your deepest desires would be, etc. God, on the other hand, does.
If God is a Donald-Miller-type-God — this divine baby sitter who is indifferent as to how we “paint” our “canvas” that is life — that’s a pretty sad reality. It is a reality that implies that I have no real purpose in life; and conversely, that if I want to have a real purpose, it’s something that *I* must unilaterally create for myself… all while divine-baby-sitter God sits upstairs watching TV, snacking on potato chips, and making sure that I keep my “crayons” on the “canvas.” It implies a God who is ambivalent to my deepest desires and hit-or-miss on His ability to actually do anything about providing/meeting them during my earthly life. That is not a reality that I am willing to accept, and I don’t think it’s based in scripture. For the record, I have *painted* my own canvas — I am an attorney — but I can look back and show you countless ways that God specifically, intentionally, and lovingly intervened, closed doors, protected, and guided me to get where I currently am… and, believe me, being an attorney *fits* who I am in a deep, deep way and I am excited to see how God will *intentionally* AND *specifically* continue to guide me and use me. Does he have other plans? Sure, but they are exactly that: PLANS. He plainly states that He will “instruct you and counsel you in the way in which you should go” (Psalm 32:8).
Are you, Don, really telling me that you don’t think God had anything to do with proactively directing your path to become a renowned author who inspires meaningful dialogue among Christians?
Do you believe that we are ultimately created for relationship with God? If so, what is that relationship supposed to look like? Is it really as hands-off as you purport it to be? Do you really not think that God has certain *tangible* things that he would like to accomplish in and through each one of us while we are on earth? I’m not saying that He was one specific plan (go to college X, marry wife Y, pursue career Z), but He certainly is a God who has planS for us and who, if we seek out those ways, will meet us, answer us, and respond with intentional guidance and direction. THAT is relationship. THAT is where intimacy is born. THAT reflects God’s love much more than does the divine-baby-sitter model.
The only problem Jeremy is that for people whose life turns out like my current state of life, you are basically saying that he planned for me to become diabetic and lose my eyesight, lose my job, lose many many things and abilities that I previously had while he planned for someone like lady gaga to become a millionare by setting a whore-ish sinful example for young people…gee thanks… And please don’t tell me it’s the influence of the “devil” or the “enemy” because if I can’t count on a God to protect me from the devil, what the heck can I count on him for???
I agree with BP. People who have everything or close to it, love to praise God and walk around bragging how they’re so “blessed” by God. What does that message say to the rest of us who struggle on a daily basis, pray on a daily basis (and get no answers or direction), continue to struggle and suffer while watching the “blessed” acquire blessing after blessing? By Jeremy’s account, that would only mean the rest of us aren’t loved by God. We don’t mean anything to Him, despite our loyalty and prayers.
And what about people in third world countries? What about people who are born crippled or essentially unable to function? How can that be the individual plan of a loving God?
If I were to subscribe to the belief that God has a specific plan for me and my life and this life is one that is extremely painful and hard to get through day by day, I could only conclude that God doesn’t care about me. I can’t afford to think that way. I’m depressed enough.
Jeremy, I don’t begrudge anyone anything and I hope your life continues to remain on a positive path, but as BP said (in not so many words), lose the major things in life that mean the most to you and then come back and say that’s God’s loving, devine plan for your life.
I do believe God has a plan for every life, but He does not violate His own principle of free choice. Many times our afflictions are a result of our own choice, not Gods or choices of our previous generations that we have inherited through environment. I see God’s plan as; whatever choice we make in life such as profession, career or job, that the primary goal is to reveal the nature and attitude of God. In that sense we are all chosen as ministers, to always reveal God in every undertaking, to honor God
Thank you Donald for validating what I’ve always believed all along: we have never needed God. We forge our own plan for our lives. He does not interfere with my will because He couldn’t care either way. Your right! He doesn’t have a plan for our lives. He has never planned to love us. He has never planned to bless us. He has never planned to provide for us. If I want love I have to plan it. If I want grace I have to plan it. He doesn’t have a plan because He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care because He doesn’t exist.
u know, although it sounds good, takes the pressure off, now i dont have to ‘hit the mark’ i think i will have to agree with Jeremy’s take on it with scripture. God’s thoughts are higher than ours, we have to submit to His word and not let ourselves be fairytailed around here, it is what it is. We are His and He cares enough to direct our path, be our Holy Guide and Counselor, our Strength when we are too weak to finish the task on our own. His grace takes us farther than we can imagine if we are aware of it or not.
Wow, did you guys even read the article?
The point is that if God hasn’t specifically promised us something, we should not live as though he has. It’s idiotic. I know because I used to do it all the time.
FOR EXAMPLE
If God hasn’t promised you a spouse, it would be foolish to live as though he has. You will miss opportunities and be passive because “God has it covered” and will do it for you. The truth is that all men and women choose who they marry, and they all have standards. If you do not meet those standards, you will not get married save for a miracle.
If God hasn’t promised you a specific job, it would be foolish to live as though he has. You’ll miss job opportunities or work at less than 100% because “God has it covered”
If there isn’t a single thing you can point to in your life where God promised it, yet act like he has, you’re not only living like a fool, you’re putting words in God’s mouth … it’s pretty much lying. You’re actually calling your own thoughts and feelings the promises of God. Used to do this all the time.
God gave us minds to think with. To make decisions with. Bodies to do things with. The ability to make plans. The thing is, people are lazy. They don’t like to use their minds. They don’t like to put in the work to achieve something great. They don’t LIKE the idea that they are the ones that are truly responsible for how crappy (or amazing) their lives are. So what do they do? They put it all on God.
If God gave us so much freedom, so much power, so much ability, so much creativity, so much choice, so many options — only to not let us use any of it, then God is the greatest troll to ever exist. A cosmic joker. Life is the greatest trick ever played on man. A complete lie and contradiction.
“So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.”
all you are is right because thts what u believe or think. People in life are facing different challenges and you dont know what those people are going through. Most of you dont take it serious because you got something. Im talking of someone born poor die poor born in bondage die in bondage the vulnerable in societies are you saying that was the plan for them
@ Jeremy:
I just wanted to say thank you for your words & your wisdom. Where I am in my life right now, the thought that someone like me who doesn’t even feel capable of attaining any sort of purposeful living is supposed to somehow achieve that on my own is the greatest discouragement. I felt really disheartened considering Don’s perspective…But reading your words..I truly feel my heart filled with assurance and truth.
So thank you. I’m still young now..I’ve got another year to go until I graduate..and i feel the most content with the idea that even though I’m not certain of where I’m going (and at times I feel completely empty of any motivations or goals of my own–truly, not even knowing what I WANT to do with my own self)I can find security in allowing God to, as long as I live a life abiding in HIM, guide me every step of the way.
(I am reminded of that image of two sets of footprints in the sand…)
T
Good blog. I think however, you are stating that if you don’t do something (that you/society/or anyone else views as important) IMPORTANT then God did not have a specific plan for you. So you basically just said that God only has specific plans for a select few but not the rest of us. That’s a scapegoat for people not to do anything. Your friends or anyone else who sits around shopping and doing nothing else, probably isn’t truly seeking the will of God because we were all given the last command “Go and make disciples”, every single last one us. So we ALL have that ultimate plan and specific purpose to go and make disciples and there’s no excuse for any of us to not be doing that. No, not everything we do will be glamorous things but we do should be bringing Glory to God through what we do and whatever we do – we need to be doing it like one doing it for the Lord (Colossians 3:23).
The thing is- God did not tell MOST of the people in the Bible you will do a), b), and c)…. Joseph (the very example that you used) for example did NOT get told what to do step by step but God had a specific plan for him. Just because God isn’t telling someone what to do a) b) c) does not mean he does not have a specific plan for them. He did have a specific plan for Benjamin BTW (are we reading the same Bible?).
Here’s the freedom you are searching for: if your friends are trying to live according to God’s word and the Bible is the ultimate authority in their life and they are praying, and seeking God and they are giving God the glory in their everyday life… they are probably doing the right thing! I do (start coloring as you put it) and wait for God to say… nope Chris color this. God always guides me! HE doesn’t just leave me to my ways and myself. Sure sometimes I’m coloring and I don’t know exactly why I am coloring what I am coloring and why I chose to color what I am coloring but God knows why. Sometimes, He take the paper right out of my hand and says… color this instead. God. Is. Sovereign. HE isn’t a robot maker, which is why He lets us make choices freely, but they are NEVER out of His will or out of His purpose for our lives. -If you can figure this out… then you have God’s mind. I don’t, so when I say He is Sovereignin His reign over EVERYTHING including us, and we have free will simultaneously, it BLOWS my mind EVERY TIME.
I promise you… if you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, and you begin to veer off the path, God will speak! I’m not anyone important. I don’t do huge things like write awesome blogs. In my everyday life though, I make God first and God has directed me on what to do. I may not be making a world of difference but you don’t know that… I don’t know that… but God does. God has a plan for me. When it is time to change seasons… God tells me. When I go through a hard time… God encourages me. When I am completely lost… God’s voice guides me. Why? Why do that if He has no purpose for me? Why give me the Holy Spirit to guide me, if there’s no real path for me to follow? Why even wake me up if He has no use for me? It sounds utterly cruel of God to just plop a few of us with plans while the rest running around trying to figure out what we are supposed to do – but He assigned no specific plan. Why then give us the need to seek His will for our life (universal desire for Christians) if there was no plan? What a cruel God you just colored.
The hand NEEDS to be the hand. The FOOT has to be the foot. We ALL have something specific to do and God has given each and every single one of us a talent and gift and we all need to be using them. To tell people do whatever…. the harvesters are already FEW… let’s not encourage them to run away from their job. Let’s not give them a cop out “God did not have a plan for me… so I will sit and eat bon bons all day”. Jesus didn’t come in and say to the disciples… only find the ones that have a purpose. I am pretty sure the woman with the bleed for many years thought that for the years she was bleeding God did not have a plan for her. She did nothing but go back and forth to doctors and get treatments and waste her life’s savings because of this bleed. Sounds like God had no specific plan for her right?!?!?! We only NOW know God had a plan for her because hindsight is 20/20! But God knew all along what was happening to her and why, and He used her for his glory and purposes- thus proving He had a plan for her life! Every person in the Bible had a specific plan, this is why they were in the Bible! Even the Pharisees had a specific plan, every single one of them. One Pharisee would not have created the momentum of getting Jeusus crucified… it took each an every single one of them!
Mother Teresa was 38 years old when she went into the slums… before that she was a nun 1 in a million. No specific plan right? Just do whatever…
God does not look down and go.. OMG… what are they coloring?!?!??! He already know what we were going to color…
Don’t look down on me or anyone else that isn’t doing something “special enough” with their life and say… “God has no specific purpose for them”. “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it” (1 Corinthians 12:22-24).
I have a plan Donald and a purpose… and I don’t need you to take it away from me because what I’m doing isn’t glamorous enough for you. It’s good enough for God… my heart is still beating… He has a purpose for me. One day I may get recognized before men.. (which seems to qualify specific plan) or I may not (which seems to qualify for no specific plan)… but God has a plan for me… a specific one. I may find out here on earth… or in heaven… but don’t you dare tell me God had no specific purpose for my life when my Bible tells me otherwise.
::::
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:1).
Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made (Isaiah 43:6-7)
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully (Romans 12:4-8).
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.” (This right before Israel went into exile and went through a horrible time of bleakness)
Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
Well done.
Luv this! I think what you are saying is God is going to love us no matter what so we shouldn’t be afraid of being us–because we were created in God’s image and we are “good.”
I dont think you should ban freedom of speech?
Hey guys I am a skitzo. I used to be so scared i wasnt following Gods plan, and that demons were attacking me because of it. Inside I just wanted to play video games and be myself, but I was scared I was going to hell because I wasnt following Gods Plan. This just brought tears to my eyes, and relief to my heart. Jesus saved me from all of that, so I can be free to draw with any color I want. Even if I spend to much time away God doesnt care because he lives in eternity, and Jesus loves me.
God has a very very specific plan for you, as seen in Jeremiah appointed as a prophet from his mother’s womb, John the baptist leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary came, Paul at Damascus road and God says he has appointed him to suffer much for the faith, and other examples too nummerous to mention. it says God even knows the number of yr hair on your head, so he is in a sense a “control freak”, your Words not mine. If he doesnt, we drift aimlessly in life, going in circles, life has no meaning..
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?
Rom 9:21 Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor
That was so amazing i need more people like you in my life
If there is no plan, then it is up to me to make all the right choices. If I make the wrong choices, then does that mess up God’s plan?
I sure hope (and believe) not. I WILL make wrong choices and if Gods plan is contingent on me always doing the right thing, then great, my plan is out the window…no no no. God already knows where I messed up, where I am going to mess up and I believe that all of that is already accounted for.
Can I move to the jungle and never talk to another human again? Yes, will he use this? Yes. I dont know how, but I believe that ALL things work for good for those that are called to his purpose.
Look to Jonah, he tried to run from Gods plan and do his own thing…what happened? God brought him to where he needed to be. Did Jonah make it easy? no. Did he go through suffering because he chose the wrong path at first? Yes.
God is not served by human hands, he does not need us to always make the right choices so that his will is done.
Im very grateful for this post and the posters on here. We as christians are too passive about our beliefs. There are truths. Search them. The standard is always always what his word says, not what posters say. Like reading raindow, dont take my word for it!