Plan & Purpose: What's the Difference?

I spent an hour this morning weeding my flowerbeds and pruning my roses.  Prior to 2015, I worked 75 to 80 hours a week and this kind of morning solitude wasn’t even on the radar.  I absolutely adore flowers and this morning was a fabulous gift.  I feel closest to God at this time of year – when everything is new and blooming. 

As I clipped off the dead roses, I was thinking about all the new blooms that were to come and about how I arrived at this stage in life where I can begin my morning by working in my yard while listening to the doves coo.  I was also thinking about how my path continues to wind in unexpected directions and I cannot predict how my life will look a year from now.  And I’m okay with that. 

People often say “God has a plan.”  They usually say this when something difficult or confusing happens.  I actually never say this.  As I look back on my life of do-overs and second chances, I can clearly see God’s hand at work but to me, “plan” has a linear connotation, that there is something that happens, first, second, third, and so on and that if we take a detour, we might ruin it.  I have seen how God has given me choices, all of which are good.  I remember a particular time of vocational discernment when I asked God plainly to tell me what to do.  The answer was, “whatever you want.”  My follow up question was “but what do I give up?”  The answer was, “whatever you let go will be fine.  Whatever you retain will be fine.”  It freed me from worrying about making the dreaded wrong decision and was a lesson in God’s abundant generosity.   

That is when purpose became very clear to me.  And maybe I’m parsing words here but I learned that God has a purpose for me and all people that is to be lived out while on earth.  That purpose can be lived out in many different ways and times and there doesn’t have to be a specific ordering to it.  If we choose A over B, God’s purpose will still be there.  God has a job for each of us to do and she works with whatever we have to accomplish that purpose. 

And because God is love, love is our guide.  Go towards the love.  Go towards what makes your heart sing.  When I make decisions from a place of fear, I am rarely happy with the outcome.  The opposite of faith is not doubt but fear.  Fear drives us away from God.  By the way, the word fear is often misused as a virtue as in “God-fearing Christian.”  The Hebrew word often translated as fear also means “in awe of.”  We don’t need to be afraid of God to be faithful. 

I sometimes doubt if I’m living out God’s purpose and that’s why I don’t try to be a Christian alone.  Through the feedback and involvement of others, I can see God’s purpose more clearly.  I have shared in other posts my ministry with wounded seekers who want to return to Christian community.  When I hear back from someone I’ve worked with in this way, and they share their experience of healing, it reinforces all I know about God:  that God is about love and mercy, and that God still works miracles.  This makes my heart sing and I know this is my purpose.  These seekers are grateful to me but I am grateful to them for showing me God’s hand at work. 

It truly is a miracle when I see how doors open for these seekers – not a linear plan but a messy, winding path where the dead things get pruned and new blooms erupt.  Sometimes, we must let go of things that were once beautiful so that new things can take their place.  Is there something in your life you need to let go of so that love can be more fully realized?  What is God saying to you about your purpose? 

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