In Job 42:2-6, when Job had suffered significant loss and humiliation, he recognized that even when he did not understand or agree with what God was doing in his life, he could trust that God’s plans for him were good. From this account, we can also learn that we will not destroy the good God is doing in our lives. We do not know what God is doing or how he will use an experience, whether pleasurable or painful, for good. However, we can place our faith in his sovereignty and ultimate power.
When trying to make plans, the first step is to reframe our questions and put our future in the context of living under the lordship and leadership of a perfect God who wants to bless us. He already knows our desires and wants to be a part of our lives, so we could start by affirming his goodness to us, saying, Lord, I know you love me and have a great plan for my life. Then, we can lay out our desires before him, saying, Right now, this is what I want to do. Finally, we can reaffirm our faith in him and our desire to honor him in our plans, saying, More than anything, though, Lord, I want my life to draw people to you, and I want to please you completely. Please show me the next steps. If we can pray those prayers, we can be confident that he will guide us.
Even though we are asking, it should come as no surprise that he already knows what we want and what we will do. He wants us to include him in our plans, to acknowledge his wisdom for our future. And he wants us to be willing to hold our desires loosely. He also already knows the good gifts he has for us in the future, things we do not know. If we are confident in his knowledge of our past, present and future, and if we are confident in his love for us, we can trust him completely.