God’s Plan and Our Steps: Navigating Life’s Divine Dance
How does God work in our lives? I can’t say that I truly know or understand, and I probably never will fully grasp the intricacy of it all. Our minds are too finite. But honestly, who wants to serve a God that they can fully understand? Certainly not me. I want to be in awe of Him and His ways—ways that are so much bigger and better than anything I could imagine. So, asking this question might seem silly on one hand, but on the other, I believe God reveals parts of His inner workings to us through the Bible and our testimonies.
One thing I’ve been pondering is the role we play in God’s plan. God is sovereign—there is no doubt about that. Yet, He chooses to work through human agency. He chooses to work through us, and His Holy Spirit resides in us. Are we robots of His making? No. We have free will. And yet, He knows our thoughts before we think them and has a plan for our lives.
There is a delicate dance between God’s plan for our lives and our agency. He asks us to step out in faith, which requires action on our part, but He also wants us to lean on Him and trust Him in the journey. It’s about stepping, trusting, and moving at His pace rather than our own. The details of how this all works remain a mystery, and I believe we need to be okay with that. His Spirit is like the wind. It blows where it wants and though you can hear it, you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. (see John 3:8)
When I think about navigating this dance, I reflect on the adoption of our fourth child. My husband and I felt a strong conviction to adopt, but the details were unclear. We stepped out in faith and took action. We prayed continually and sought counsel. Initially, we started down the path of international adoption, choosing an agency and attending a meeting. However, my husband kept feeling strongly that international adoption was not our path. He would say, “There are kids in our own backyard.” I knew he was right, but I was scared. “Kids in our own backyard” meant foster care in the United States, and that idea terrified me. But the more we prayed, the more convicted I became.
We began looking into how to get certified for foster care in New Jersey, and, as it turned out, there was a training program available right around the corner from our house. The training consisted of four all-day Saturday sessions in February, and oddly enough, we had no plans for any Saturday that month. It felt like a door had opened, so we trusted and signed up. We asked my in-laws to watch the kids, and they agreed, even though they weren’t thrilled with our decision to pursue this path. The timing felt right, and we walked through the door, step by step, prayerfully.
After the training, we didn’t rush to get certified. We let the process unfold organically, following each prompt bit by bit. It took until November for our home to be licensed, which is considered a long time after completing the training. But we trusted it was the Lord’s timing and not ours. And it was. Soon after our licensure, we received a call about an infant in the hospital. She has been with us ever since. Three years later, her infant sister joined our family. It all feels so divinely orchestrated, and my heart swells when I think of the Lord’s goodness through it all.
Was it broken and messy? Yes, in many ways. I don’t want to paint a picture that it wasn’t incredibly hard or that my sweet girls haven’t faced unimaginable challenges. But has God worked in and through us and them? Mightily. Without a doubt.
As my family faces big decisions and seeks the Lord’s guidance, my hope and prayer is that we can continue to dance with Him. I pray that we take action and step out in faith while trusting His timing and direction. I pray we can course-correct when needed and remain in tune with His voice and promptings. At the same time, I pray we won’t just sit on our hands. It’s a tricky balance, and we won’t do it perfectly, but I trust there is always grace to cover our mistakes.
What is the Lord leading you to in your life? What small act of faith can you take today? Maybe it’s reaching out to someone you’ve been meaning to encourage, taking the first step toward a dream that feels out of reach, or simply pausing to pray and ask God to guide your next move. Whatever it is, trust that He’s walking with you. Dare to believe that your small steps, taken in faith, can lead to something far greater than you ever imagined. Let His plans unfold and watch as His goodness and grace fill the journey.
