When God Changes Your Plans
As Bekah and I stand at the base of the giant quartzite mountain, I don’t expect our ascent to become a lesson on how to respond when God changes your plans.
“I can’t believe the summit is only three miles away,” she marvels. “It looks like it’s going to take forever to get up there.”
“I guess it’ll happen one step at a time. This is going to be a steep climb, but we’ll get there one step at a time,” I respond optimistically.
When God Changes Your Plans
An hour later, we cling to the side of the giant mountain with racing hearts and trembling knees.
“Keep three points of contact at all times,” I remind her. I’m beginning to question the wisdom of our adventure. She’s 13, and this is her first scramble up an actual mountain.
“Mom, this is scary,” she calls from behind me.
“You’re doing great. Just don’t look down,” I tell her. We’ve been climbing up the steep mountainside for about an hour, and it almost feels like we could reach out and touch the summit.
We continue onward for a while, and we’re 50 yards from the summit when I realize we have a problem. From a distance, the ledge we were climbing appeared to lead directly to the top of the ridgeline. However, as we cling to the top of the ledge, I realize a large crevasse, unseen from below, stands between us and the top of the ridge.
We have two choices: We can attempt to scale a sheer rock face above us, or we can turn around and climb back down the mountain.
After reminding myself that I’m no longer an invincible 20-year-old solo mountain climber, I realize that despite how far we’ve come, we need to turn back.
I will not be the foolish mother who puts her child in harm’s way for the sake of a temporal goal.
Turning Around
“We’ve come far enough,” I call to Bekah as she rests on a boulder below me. “It’s time to turn back.”
“What do you mean? We’re so close!” she contends, unable to see the crevasse from her vantage point.
“There’s a huge crevasse between us and the summit. We can’t cross it safely, and we can’t go straight up. It’s best to turn around and go back down,” I calmly explain.
“I can’t go back down that!” she decrees.
We both look down the mountainside. I don’t want to navigate down the dauntingly steep 1,000-foot cliff either. But we cannot go farther up.
Glancing at Bekah, I quickly realize she’s getting emotional as she clings to the mountain.
Scrambling over a few loose boulders to sit beside her, I put a hand on her shoulder. “We will make it down in the same way we came up: One step at a time,” I encourage her. “I’ve done this more times than I can count.”
“Well, I haven’t!” she responds.
After a short lesson on how to descend a mountain safely, including points of contact and foot positioning, we begin our descent. Slowly, we make our way down the rocky cliff and breathe a sigh of relief when our feet return to the flat ground.
Two hours after turning around near the ridgeline, as we sit along an alpine lake eating cans of bean soup, she declares, “At least I have a good story for my friends: My mom almost killed me on a mountain.”
What to Do When God Changes Your Plans
I’ve been thinking about our mountain climb since it happened, thanking God for the wisdom to turn back before our situation shifted from mildly dangerous to entirely perilous.
At times, the wise decision in life is to turn around and go back. Turning back is wise when we’re chasing goals that lead us to dangerous places.
I’ve done this on more than just mountains.
I’ve pursued jobs, ministry ventures, relationships, goals, and dreams that weren’t in God’s best plans for me.
Sadly, too many times, I’ve pushed toward these goals with unbridled tenacity, even when godly wisdom whispered, “Turn around, my child. You have strayed from the path.”
Tenacity is good. But I don’t want to be so stubborn that I follow my goals at all costs instead of following Jesus.
I don't want to be so stubborn that I follow my goals at all costs instead of following Jesus. #goals #tenacity #Jesus Share on XMaybe you need this gentle reminder today, too: There is a time to reassess our goals and turn around. The greatest growth is always found on the way toward the goal—along the journey—more than in actually reaching the goal.
I’ve learned more about the craft of writing books by writing “practice books” than by actually publishing books. I’ve learned more about loving well by quietly and humbly loving those in front of me than by launching huge ministries.
The growth takes place along the journey, friend—even if you never make it to the top of the mountain.
I close with a question for reflection today: In which area of your life have you been so focused on pressing toward your goal that you’ve lost sight of purpose woven into the journey? What is God speaking to you or showing you about following him?
A Free Devotional for When God Changes Your Plans:
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Calling all moms and daughters!
Additionally, my teen daughter, Bekah, and I are passionate about helping moms and daughters grow closer while connecting with God. We have written two mother-daughter devotionals together. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section after each devotion.
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