God's Plan, Not Ours

An idea came to me recently.

I was speaking to a group of high schoolers at Trinity Anglican Church. The topic I’d been given, “How do I make the most of the rest of my life?”, led me to think back to my own childhood and what it felt like to be a teenager.

I think we can all agree that being a teenager today isn’t easy. College tuition costs keep rising, acceptance rates are plummeting, and perhaps worst of all - you’ve got to contend with your entire life being online. Don’t have enough followers on Instagram? You’re a social outcast. Don’t post from the coolest parties or the best vacation spots? You’re a loser. Your daily outfits, your sports highlight reel, your college acceptance letter – all of it goes online for the whole world to see.

When I was in high school, if you got bullied, you went home at the end of the school day and that was it. Now the bullying continues online long after you’ve gotten home. One misconstrued comment, one out-of-context screenshot, one ambiguous comment in a group chat and you end up becoming “Internet Famous” in the worst possible way. It’s no wonder that Jonathan Haidt and other scientists are calling today’s teenagers “the anxious generation.” Your whole life can become ruined in the blink of an eye.

An eighth grader at a private school in Atlanta recently committed suicide. An eighth grader.

Her whole life ahead of her. Snuffed out.

With these thoughts in mind, I began preparing my speech for the kids at Trinity.

Here’s the gist of my talk: Life never goes according to your plan. There are twists and turns and setbacks and illnesses and failures. Life is hard. But it’s even harder when you’re going at it alone. I realized in my mid-20’s that I couldn’t continue alone. I had to turn to Jesus, someone who will love me despite my faults and flaws, despite my missteps. I had to surrender, and as someone that’s ultra-competitive and Type-A, that was hard to do. But looking back, it’s the best decision I’ve made. To turn all my anxiety, my doubts, my fears of inadequacy and unlovability over to God, the One who formed me and has my name engraved on the palm of His hands. So yes, life might not go according to your plan, but often, it follows God’s plan, and that plan is magnificent should you chose to follow it.

One thing about me – I keep most everyone’s birthdays in my calendar. Since college, I’ve lost several friends. Every year when their birthdays come around, I inevitably go to text them and then realize – they’re gone. There’s no one to text. I’ve spent another year on this wonderous earth circling the sun and they haven’t. It’s heartbreaking.

I charged the high schoolers with a simple task. Even if you can’t imagine a better future, one free of suffering or envy or resentment, your job is to stay around to see if that day will come.

Following my talk, I thought to my own childhood, days spent in the woods behind my house, summers spent lolling around on my grandparents’ farm. Nights spent deep in a book or camping underneath the stars. Did I ever imagine that I’d end up working inside of prisons, sharing the Gospel to men, women, and children? Most certainly not. But it’s been the best thing that God’s ever done for me, because it’s given me true freedom and so much joy.

You might pause after reading that last word. Joy? In prison?

Yes. Joy. In prison.

At our Returning Hearts Celebration at Burruss Correctional Training Center in March, three remarkable things happened:

1. One family drove through the night, 12 hours straight from Texas, to bring their children to see their father during the Celebration. Their dedication reaffirmed my belief that what we do matters and has a real impact.

2. Our team of volunteers were able to congregate with incarcerated men Friday evening and specifically pray for two of them to be granted reprieve from the Board of Pardons and Paroles. We physically laid hands on these men and prayed for their release. I have no words to describe how powerful the moment was.

3. The prison’s warden allowed us to turn our regular inflatable slide into a water slide. Again, I have no words to describe just how much fun the children and dads had going up and down a waterslide. I also have no words to describe how soaking wet they got. One younger man came up to me afterwards and said, “Man, I feel like a kid again.” Hallelujah!

Watching those boys and girls and grown men careen down a soaking wet slide towering over the razor wire, I saw joy. I saw hope for a better relationship with dad. I saw the difference God is making in countless lives – volunteers, correctional staff, inmates, and their children.

And at the end of it all, I said a prayer of thankfulness for another year spent on this wonderful earth. May your days be filled with joy.