When Your Plan Isn’t the Plan

So, what’s on my mind?

There’s something wonderfully humbling about realizing, moments before the starting line, that the race you trained for is not actually the race you’re about to run. This past Saturday, I joined four other clergy for a five-person 50K relay. That meant each of us was responsible for 10K (about 6.2 miles). I was running the first leg, and in my mind, the plan was simple: run 6.2 miles, hand off the baton (figuratively speaking), and cheer everyone else on.

But just before heading to the starting line, I discovered the rest of the group had made a different plan. Instead of each of us running all 6.2 miles at once, we would split it in half, 3.1 miles at a time, then come back later and run the second half. This was now a different race. This wasn’t what I had prepared for.

Mentally, I had geared myself up for one long push. Pace yourself. Settle in. Don’t start too fast. Just keep moving. Now suddenly, it was run faster… stop… recover… and do it again. Honestly, it threw me for a loop. I had my plan. I liked my plan. My plan made sense to me. But apparently, that was out the window.

Isn’t that how life with God often feels? We prepare for one kind of journey, and then God, or sometimes just life, hands us another. We think we’re training for a marathon, and suddenly we’re running intervals. We expect smooth roads and get detours. We prepare for certainty and get a surprise.

There’s a Yiddish proverb loosely based on Proverbs 16:9 that says, “Man plans; God laughs.” Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” These two Proverbs are both comforting and mildly annoying. Because if we’re honest, we like being the ones establishing the steps. We like knowing the route. We like predictability. We like not finding out major race strategy changes thirty seconds before the horn sounds. But faith often means trusting God in the race we have, not the one we imagined. Sometimes discipleship looks less like perfect preparation and more like faithful adjustment.

The good news is this: whether it’s one long stretch or two shorter ones, God is still present on the course. The goal is not perfect control, it’s faithful endurance. So if your week feels like a race you didn’t sign up for, take heart. Keep running. Adjust when needed. Trust the One who sees the whole course. And maybe double-check the group chat before race day.

May God hold you,
Rev Chris Hester