Throughout history, people have asked the question: what is God's plan? This is a difficult question to answer because God's plans are often mysterious and beyond our understanding. We can, however, look to the Bible for some guidance. In the Bible, God's plan is often referred to as His will. His will is to bring people into a right relationship with Him and to give them hope, peace, and joy. He also wants us to be kind to one another and to use our lives to serve others. Ultimately, God's plan is for us to live in harmony with Him and with each other. He wants us to live a life of purpose and fulfillment, one that brings glory and honor to Him. Though we may not always understand His plan, we can take comfort in the fact that He has our best interests at heart and is guiding us on the path of life.
Whether you’re a planner or more of a spontaneous stock, there’s always something very comforting in a plan. But no matter how much we look ahead, strategize, plot or map out the turns we wish to take, and the goals we wish to achieve, our man-made plans often end up being woefully naive when it comes to what life has in store.
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
Our human hearts love to have it all worked out, but God, in his sever mercy, sees to it that we place our man-made plans at his feet, admit we don’t know what the future has in store, and learn to trust that his plans are not only good, but better than anything we can imagine for ourselves.
Whatever is happening in your life, whatever foundation has turned upside down, whatever plans no longer make sense — know that God has filled His Word with promises and stories that teach us to see Him as the architect of a cosmic plan that is so much bigger than our little worlds. Trust in his perfect plans.
Need some encouraging God's plan quotes? Here are 35 quotes about God's plan from Scripture and from well-known followers of Christ. Let these encourage you that God’s plans have not been thwarted, and greater things are in store for you and me.
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John 14:2-3 ― 2 In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Jeremiah 29:11 ― 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 ― 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Psalm 119:105 ― 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Proverbs 3:5-6 ― 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
2 Peter 3:9 ― 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
1 John 1:9 ― 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Micah 6:8 ― 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Proverbs 16:4 ― 4 The LORD works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster.
Hebrews 10:36 ― 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Luke 9:23 ― 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
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"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” ― Corrie Ten Boom
"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” ― Martin Luther
"Worry is blind and cannot discern the future, but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief.” – Ellen White
“Prayer and the Bible became a part of my everyday thoughts and beliefs. I learned to put my trust in God and to seek Him as my strength.” – Rosa Parks
“God never witholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God's refusals are always merciful -- "severe mercies" at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts desire except to give us something better.” ― Elisabeth Elliot
“I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.” ― Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“God will ensure my success in accordance with His plan, not mine.” ― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
“God’s plans for you are better than any plans you have for yourself. So don’t be afraid of God’s will, even if it’s different from yours.” ― Greg Laurie
“God’s plan will continue on God’s schedule.” ― A.W. Tozer
“The significance and joy in my science comes in those occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to myself, 'So that's how God did it.' My goal is to understand a little corner of God's plan.” ― Henry F. Schaefer, III
“The most important gift you can give your child is to help them begin a walk of faith with the God of the universe. From the moment your children arrive in your home, you are teaching them how to see the world, what to consider important, what to seek, what to love. As a mother, you have the opportunity to form your home and family life in such a way that God’s reality comes alive to your children each day.” ― Sally Clarkson, 10 Gifts of Wisdom: What Every Child Must Know Before They Leave Home
“’Twant me, ’twas the Lord. I always told him, ‘I trust to you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,’ and he always did.” ― Harriet Tubman
“Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in the thing that lies before us today? How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person's seemingly small act of obedience! Rest assured: Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next.” ― Elisabeth Elliot, Quest for Love: True Stories of Passion and Purity
“Every day in each inch of space, each rhythm of time, each practice of love, we have the chance to join God in coming home, in living so that we make a home of this broken and beautiful world all over again. Love is enfleshed in the meals we make, the rooms we fill, the spaces in which we live and breathe and have our being.” ― Sally Clarkson, The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming
“There is a grand designer behind everything. God's plan for your life, all that happens to you, including your mistakes, your sins, and your hurts.” ― Rick Warren
"Trusting God's plan is the only secret I know in the gentle art of not freaking out.” ― Lysa TerKeurst
"Pray, and let God worry.” ― Martin Luther
"God's plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day.” ― Louie Giglio
"Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God’s plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins.” ― Eric Liddell
"When we submit to God's plans, we can trust our desires. Our assignment is found at the intersection of God's plan and our pleasures.” ― Max Lucado
"We are to make a plan for the day, pray over that plan, and then proceed with that plan. When we are willing to regard the unexpected as God's intervention, we can flex with the new plan, recognizing it as God's plan.” ― Elizabeth George
“As we get into the mind and plan of God, our faith will grow, and its power will be manifest in ourselves and those for whom we are believing.” ― Andrew Murray, How to Raise Children for Christ
“Of one thing I am perfectly sure: God's story never ends with ‘ashes.” ― Elisabeth Elliot, These Strange Ashes
“In the Bible’s account, God himself officiates at the first wedding (Genesis 2:22-25). And when the man sees the woman, he breaks into poetry and exclaims, ‘At last!’” – Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage
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