If you're like me, and your idealized job wasn't where God was leading, and your plans fell through, choose Him to redeem the situation.
Most of us have gone through times when our plans have fallen through. Maybe you were just about to start a new job, only to find you are going to have to take care of a loved one full time, or you were in a really great relationship only to see it suddenly fall apart. There are many things we can do after our plans fall through, yet not all of them are things we should do. Rather than doing something destructive, we must know how to reposition ourselves after our plans fall through.
But How?
“But how?” is the first question that normally comes to mind when we try to reposition ourselves after our plans fall through. The idea sounds good, but at the present time, we feel paralyzed and unable to move. Even during this difficult time, know you can do it because God is bigger than any problem. He doesn’t want you to stay in the dark place and grow bitter after your plans fall through. Rather, He wants you to emerge victorious and come back stronger in your faith than before the fall-through.
God can help us with all these questions circling our minds, including the “but how?”. Repositioning ourselves after everything falls apart around us is possible with God. Don’t rely on yourself—rely on God. There are steps you can take to help reposition yourself, yet you can run to God for every need you have throughout this process. Pray to Him and ask Him to help you reposition yourself. Ask Him to give you guidance, hope, and direction. The Lord is faithful, and He will help you every step of the way.
Adjusting with the Change
We will have to adjust after our plans fall through and accept the change. The change might be good, yet it might be bad. Even if we perceive the change as bad, we can trust that God can work out all things for our good, including the heartache, sadness, and chaos (Romans 8:28). At these times, in the aftermath, it can be hard to reposition yourself and get ready to face life again. It is impossible to say you will be able to bounce right back after a major plan falls through. It is also important during these times to show yourself grace and treat yourself as you would treat a friend.
We are often hard on ourselves, but this doesn’t help us. If anything, it can make us feel worse about ourselves and can send us into a downhill spiral. When we make plans, we need to hold them loosely because we don’t know when or if they will fail. We need to trust God with the outcome, even if the outcome isn’t what we had expected or wanted. If we can accept this, this will be a huge step forward to repositioning ourselves after our plans fall through.
Moving On
It is also important to move on to reposition yourself after your plans fall. While moving on is a difficult thing to do, it is vital to be able to move forward in life. All of the pain you are experiencing is completely valid and understood by God. With this pain, you have the choice to move forward and allow this to help your walk as a Christian, or you can allow it to hinder your growth. Choosing to move on and accept what happened will help you in the aftermath when your plans fail.
Depending on the severity of your plans falling through can impact how long it takes to move on. Maybe the plan that fell through was getting a new car, and now you will have to continue catching public transportation until you can save up for a car. While this alone can cause many anxieties, you have a backup plan to fall on. In this case, it's public transportation.
For other plans, such as a relationship ending, a family member dying, or losing a baby, it can take much more time to come back. God is walking with you through all of this pain and heartbreak. Be assured that this won't last forever. The pain will come and go, yet it won't be with you always. As I stated before, show yourself grace during these times and treat yourself well. This is not a time to be hard on yourself.
With repositioning, there comes challenges. You have to keep going even though your plans have fallen through. From personal experience, my plans have fallen through on so many occasions that I lost count. It took me years to realize that even though these plans are my plans, it doesn't mean they are God's plans for my life. We might have a deep desire for a specific career, home, or place to live, yet we need to trust all final plans with God. He knows best, and we can trust Him with the final outcome.
My Experience
Growing up, my mom used to be in charge of all of the plans, including our weekend plans, our daily plans, and our extracurricular plans. Since my mom always had everything planned out, I never had to worry about anything because I knew she had it covered. As I got older and my mom passed away, I could no longer lean on her plans. Instead, I had to make up my own plans, which was hard for a teenager who truly had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and to an extent, I'm still there.
Maybe you feel the same way, and you don't know where God is guiding you. I remember in college, I thought I knew what I wanted to be and how to serve the Lord, only later to discover that wasn't the career path for me. It takes time to heal in the aftermath of our plans falling through, but it doesn't mean we can't learn from these mistakes or misdirections and move forward. If you are living in the aftermath of your plans falling through, know that you are not alone, and this season will not endure forever.
God will bring you to a place of acceptance and a place of moving forward, even if it might not feel like it right now. God has a way of bringing about beauty from our pain. If you're like me, and your idealized job wasn't where God was leading, and your plans fell through, choose Him to redeem the situation. God doesn't just desire to redeem your soul–He desires to redeem every part of your life. This could be in your career, your relationship, or your home life. God is always working and bringing about your greatest good.
If you're going through a breakup or the end of a marriage, turn to God and trust Him to redeem this part of your life. It will be painful to live without that person, but trust God in the process and know that He knows what you truly need. In the same way, if you have lost a loved one, either a baby or an adult family member, know that God understands your loss, and He will pick up the pieces of your heart. It is painful when our plans fall through, but we can trust God with the new plan He gives us that He designed.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/kieferpix
