Finding Folu: My Plan vs The Master's Plan

The Topic Room: FINDING FOLU: My Plan vs The Master’s Plan

I had it all worked out. My type A personality, even as a child, had me constructing the exact life I wanted for myself. This little Chiquita was going to be a raging success. My life was going to look like those immaculate and well-designed houses showcased on the Home Channel. Everything would be cut, measured, and pasted together to perfection. And having been raised in a Christian home, I would do it all to the glory of God. But the enemy had his own sick plans waiting in the wings.

The foundation of my dream ‘house’ would be the support of my parents. The ‘doors’ and ‘windows’ of my house would be my education; windows to see into the future and a door to lead me there. My ‘lounge’ was my friends and family, while my ‘garden’ represented the talents I would plant, nurture, and grow. On the ‘second floor’ of my house, I saw myself married in my early twenties, with my six children all popped out by the time I was 30. I would have the perfect marriage, perfect children and of course, my in-laws would adore me. And the attic of my ‘house’ would be my self-actualisation phase; I would be the CEO of my own company, providing for my family and everyone around me. My husband would have hit the jackpot of spouses!

However, the ‘house’ I had built up in my mind soon came crashing down. My plans veered off course when as a child I fell into the clutches of a stranger who sexually abused me, repeatedly, in the confines of my own home. The details of my encounter are unpleasant and irrelevant to this post, so I won’t hash them out here, (maybe I’ll go into detail on a future ‘FINDING FOLU’ post) but suffice it to say, this event proved to be the beginning of a detour I was not expecting.

James Chp 4 v 13-14 – “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” (14) Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”

We’re an ardently goal-setting bunch, aren’t we? There’s a sense of solid purpose in a well thought out plan. I can’t go through a week without putting down some carefully crafted strategy to achieve a specific objective. But having been blindsided on a number of occasions in my life, I have come to realise that all my plans were based on a heavy sense of autonomy. After all, I came into this world on my own and no-one was going to help me get from A to Z, so I needed to put together a detailed plan…but I didn’t take the enemy into account. Unfortunately, the devil has a good idea of what our God-given purpose is, and he is hell-bent on ensuring that we do not attain it.

As we plan our flowery and noble goals, we should ask ourselves whose agenda we are truly pursuing. God’s or the enemy’s? There are only two options. One brings you to your designed purpose, the other doesn’t. One will exceed your expectations, the other is limited to your expectations. Since we cannot see the future, does it not make sense to give our proposed goals to the One who not only has great plans for us, but has fashioned us in the best way to carry them out.

My personal detour was designed to destroy me. My life has been riddled with (in no particular order), low self-esteem, crippling disappointment, betrayal, marital issues, attempted suicide and a second incident of sexual abuse. But when I reached rock bottom, alone, with nothing but my echo as a source of comfort, I finally learnt to listen to the only voice that could direct me towards the correct plan and remould me from within. The journey required me to strip away my ‘self’ as I acquired a willingness to recalibrate my ideas of achievement. I encourage us all to do the same because the result will be a harmonious revival of joy, replacing pain and disappointment. The master conductor will help you take your instruments and direct you in a symphony of events that will usher in your purpose.

I may not have actualised what I am created for yet, but it sure feels good to know that I’ve let go of my plan and exchanged it for the Master’s plan.

Live TKL (The Kiniun Life)