In today’s world, the presence of planners, calendars, schedules, and agendas is almost overwhelming. What’s even more stifling is how many times our plans don’t work out. The other day I had marked down an event about 2 weeks out. I set around 6 reminders to go off on my computer, my tablet, and my cell phone. And yes, I showed up on the wrong day. Unbelievable? No. I am an eyewitness.
On the other hand, against all odds, whenever I pause and take a look at my life, remembering certain events, certain insights, certain conversations, certain moments, it’s hard to deny the presence of a certain harmony, a certain design, in the countless number of events and incidents that took place in order to get me where I am today. Is there a plan in the middle of all the chaos? Does God have a plan?
I myself am a firm believer, or even more, an eyewitness to the fact that God has a plan for our lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBL5wrIuess
Does God Have a Plan for Our Lives?
This question is worth pondering for a while for a few reasons:
– The existence of a plan, designed by a loving God, is a source of strength, direction, and hope in both the good times and the bad. As the video says, this doesn’t mean that God causes all the experiences in our lives, but we can be sure that He uses all of them to bring out the best.
That’s where the video’s basic message ends. As Catholics, I think it’s important to elaborate more on what it means to “embrace the process.” In addition to recognizing and trusting, God invites us to respond actively to His plan for our lives. This means:
– Our first responsibility in life is to listen and follow. It’s very easy to get caught up in our own plans. The realization that our lives aren’t entirely under our control can be a frightening one, and sometimes we try to “reconquer” our lives using an army of agendas. Nevertheless, part of our path towards conversion consists precisely in learning to trust and to listen. Stop worrying, we are in good hands.
– How? Pray and be silent. As Christians, we must learn to construct our lives upon an intimate relationship with the Lord. We do so by dedicating time to prayer, especially by participating in the sacraments. We also must live a certain interior silence that allows us to listen to God’s voice in every moment of our day, whether it is at work, at school, at the movies… wherever.
All of this is implied when we speak of conversion: discovering God’s plan in our lives, praying and listening to what He asks of us, and lastly, responding with a daily and ever more radical, “Yes”.
