What's the Plan?

Before we go any farther, let me tell you what we’re going to talk about. We’re going to talk about pain. There, I said it. Pain. It’s one of the realities of life. If you live long enough, some level of pain, in some area of your life, will find you. I promise you, it will. And when it does, many people are tempted to ask “Why?” “Why am I having to face what I am experiencing?” “It’s not fair that I have to go through what I am going through.” It’s a fair and natural question to ask, I’ll give you that. The problem is, it’s the wrong question. If you ask the question “Why?” for too long, you will just end up in the same place you’re already in, with the same problems to solve. And what happens if you’re never able to really answer the question of “Why?” Where does that leave you? It will leave you confused, frustrated and disillusioned. Those are terrible places to end up, let alone live in. Nothing good ever comes from prolonged seasons in those places.

The much better question to ask is, “What’s the Plan?” I understand that, at first glance, it’s not really the question you want to ask when you’re experiencing the pain of life. It can take some time to move from “Why” to “What”. When we ask “Why” we often receive what we’re looking for from ourselves and others. Sympathy. Empathy. Days of not wanting to get out of bed and go on. Social media allows us to share our pain and receive an immediate shot of support, love, care and concern from others. For a time, all of this might help take the pain away. But days, weeks, months and years go by, and you discover that it did not answer the deepest questions related to the pain you’re experiencing. None of your problems were actually solved this way.

It’s only when we move from “Why” to “What” that we begin to gain traction. It’s where we discover that when it comes to pain, we can actually do more with “What” than with “Why”. This is the moment where you give God complete control of everything in your life, where pain is no longer in the driver’s seat and forward momentum can begin to happen again. You don’t always need to know “Why”. God never promises that you will always know “Why” you’re facing the specific pain or challenge you’re experiencing. What you need to know is, “What’s the Plan?”