The Lord has a plan for every single one of his children, and the world would be better off if everyone truly believed it.
“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 a future and a hope,” (Jer. 29:11).
I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and no matter what goes on, it’s all part of God’s greater plan for us. Admittedly, it’s easy to thank the Lord for placing the good things in our lives. On the other hand, it’s much harder to thank him for what we perceive as the bad things in our lives, but we absolutely should. Whether good or bad, everything we go through is part of God’s plan. A few months ago, I decided to embody this perspective on a whim, and it completely changed my life for the better.
It’s very important to note that growing up, I used to be a very angry person with a track record of rage-filled outbursts when things didn’t go my way. If someone cut me off in traffic or made me miss the light because they were texting, it was an automatic middle finger, followed by a string of curse words hurled in their direction. If I struck out playing high school baseball, I’d often go back to the dugout, slam my helmet, and even punch jagged brick walls. In one of my least proud moments, I was having a rough morning, and I went to fill my water bottle up at the fridge. I ended up spilling a good amount of it on myself, and my immediate response was to punch and dent the fridge. My mom was thrilled with me after that one.
I know it seems odd for me to expose myself for throwing little tantrums so often, but I only do so to show how much different my life has become now that I’ve shifted my perspective to believe that even the bad things are part of God’s greater plan for us. While I have no memory of what drove me to embody the new belief that bad things happen for good reasons, I do remember one of the first days that I gave it a shot.
A few months back, I was pulling out of my driveway while simultaneously trying to pour a sports drink into my personal water bottle. This was a terrible idea, as my driveway is a pothole-riddled minefield. I, of course, spilled almost the entire thing into my lap and between my legs.
Instead of throwing another small tantrum, I decided to say to myself, “Maybe if I leave the house right now, something worse is going to happen. Maybe this is God redirecting me from something I can’t see happening.”
In other words, maybe if I had left my house right then, like I had planned, a deer would have run out in front of my car, or I’d have gotten t-boned by someone who ran a red light. I chose to believe this small inconvenience was God’s way of telling me not to leave the house yet.
This little perspective change that may seem ridiculous to some people, allowed me to actually appreciate drenching jeans in my car, because I truly had no idea what might have happened if I had left the house on time. I chose to believe that it was in God’s plan for me to walk back into the house dripping wet, and in doing so, I didn’t let such a small thing ruin my day.
I truly wish I had adopted this perspective sooner, because it would have also allowed me to enjoy my first few years of college baseball a lot more than I did. I spent the first three years of college ball battling elbow and shoulder injuries, and didn’t play a full healthy season until my fourth year. During this time, I should also point out that I had an extremely weak relationship with Christ, and I was filled with so much pent-up anger from all the setbacks. The realization that I’ve come to today, is that if I hadn’t gone through all the ‘bad’ things I went through during those first three years, I never would have ended up at Campbellsville University, the place where I was able to solidify my relationship with Christ.
Now that I’m at CU, I can confidently say there’s no place I’d rather be, and I truly believe the setbacks were all part of God’s plan. If I had gone anywhere else in the country to continue playing ball, I don’t think I would have grown my faith as much as I have here at CU.
Through shifting my perspective the day I soaked myself in my car, I changed my life for the better because I helped myself take control of every negative situation and turn them into positives. Since then, I’ve been incomparably happier with every aspect of my life. With the ability to actually find enjoyment in negative situations, there will be no moment in my life that I can’t find some appreciation for, because I believe it’s all part of God’s plan.
The next time someone cuts you off in traffic, the next time you spill a drink on yourself, or even the next time you stub your toe, do your best to try and find the silver lining of God’s plan in there somewhere. I guarantee you will be a much happier person because you’ll learn to be grateful for even the crappiest of days.
