Does God have a specific plan for my life?

When you are hurting, it seems no amount of encouragement actually helps. No self help quote, no advice from your best friend, not even cuddling with your dog, seems to help when you have been hurt deeper than ever before. The only semi encouraging words come directly from God and his Word, when He’s revealing himself and his character to you personally. 

Several years ago, I began to date this guy shortly after we met. Now I had been hurt before this by guys I probably never should have been in a relationship with anyways, but this was different. I had moved past the emotional trauma, felt like I was in a good place, and felt like dating him was what God wanted me to do. 

It was wonderful. I was genuinely happy and I didn’t remember the last time I was happy before then. For the first time in my life, I felt like things were going well in all areas, school, personally, and relationally. From the outside, we looked like the perfect Christian couple that everyone dreams of. I thought we were. No amount of past flaws seemed to scare us about each other, there was only love, kindness, and forgiveness. After a year of dating, I had hope. I had a real hope, for the first time ever, that maybe I could actually be worth marrying to someone. I thought God had answered my prayers and given me my forever person. 

Until it ended. 

All the things we discussed as “deal-breakers”, were not what broke us apart. All the hopes and dreams of me becoming a bride were destroyed in a matter of a week. My viewpoint of God and who He is was forever shifted by the words of the man I firmly believed was my forever person. 

The events surrounding the end still confuse me because of the inconsistencies in what I was told and what could possibly be the truth. He asked me at one point if I believed that God has one specific person planned for you, or if He has several and it’s just our choice to figure it out. Honestly, I didn’t know my answer until much later. 

As I wrestled with these thoughts about myself, my worth, Gods plan, and how specific it is or not, I began to ask what beliefs align with who I know God to be. God is good, sovereign, perfect, all knowing, specific, loving, and is just. He punishes sin and rewards righteousness - on His schedule, not ours. He always answers prayers, but not in the ways we think. 

But if God is specific enough to give detailed instructions for sacrifices (Numbers 9), why wouldn’t He be just as detailed and specific in who I spend the rest of my life with? If he is specific enough to give prophetic visions to people (Isaiah 6), why wouldn’t he be just as specific with who I spend the rest of my life with? Does God care more about certain aspects of my life than others? Does that make God inconsistent, and if so, unfaithful as well? 

Obviously, I am not God and can’t answer these questions with absolute certainty. However, if all of those characteristics of God are true, and I believe they are, then God does have a incredibly detailed and specific plan for my life, which then requires me to trust Him with all areas of my life. 

I don’t have all the answers, but I know God can be trusted and He does have a specific plan for each person that includes every detail. He is a good God. 

Are you currently trusting God with every area of your life? Or are you offering certain areas while holding back others? Are you even living and acting like you are trusting God? Or just saying that you do around the right people? Are you asking yourself if what you hear from others aligns with the character of God? Or if you or others have adopted a false theology?