Does God have a personal plan for everybody?
Fishermen using a seine. Photo: Eric Matson Collection, LOC.
What people say about it:
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God made you with a purpose and a cause
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It is very important you seek Gods guidance in your life, else you will miss the purpose you are here for
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Your choices for a partner, work and place to live should all fit into Gods destiny for your life. If you don’t make the right choice, you can miss Gods purpose for you.
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If you get sick or you are involved in a serous accident, maybe God wants to stop you so you can listen to Him, or warn you that you are on the wrong track.
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God just puts you in places you can’t use your talents, so you are totally dependent on His guidance and strength.
How you can also look at it:
Why did God once say “let us make mankind”? In stories about creation from other cultures mankind is the by-product of the battle between good and evil or created a slave of gods who need help.
The story of the creation in the Bible shows it was Gods sovereign choice to create humans and that He made an entire universe as a habitat for mankind.
The only reason one would do this is love. And that love must be gigantic, because God knew it wouldn’t be what He had in mind for the first thousands of years. He knew it would cost Him dearly and the humans as well. I can imagine the Father, Son and Spirit looking into each others eyes and asking themselves: “Are You sure”?
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1: 27)
The sole purpose of something made out of love is happiness. Whether you make something out of a hobby or because it is your profession, you want others to enjoy it. That brings the greatest satisfaction. Of course you are proud, happy and satisfied when it is finished, but it only gets really great when others participate in your joy.
And because we are made in the image of God I can imagine God enjoying our enjoying of what He has made. I also can imagine He will be intensely sad when things are abused or broken. But that is the risk of sharing things and entrusting them to others. That is the risk of letting people rule over the work of Your hands and evil being able to influence that. God knew that.
Still God didn’t place mankind under curatorship but gave them a free will. He gave us a user guide in the form of the law and a book with examples, mostly of how not to do it, in the form of the bible.
In the bible you read how some individuals get a specific task at a crucial moment in history. The majority of people on the other hand have no special calling other than being the people of God. And even that seems to be very difficult you can read in the stories of the Old Testament and in the corrections and exhortations in the letters of the New Testament.
To my knowledge everybody has the same destiny; protect and improve the place you are living, take responsibility for the animals, love people like Jesus loved you, love God with everything in you and stay close to Him. (Genesis 1:26, 2: 15; John13: 34, 15: 4, 9; Marc 12:30)
And everybody has the same purpose; telling people about the God you love and help them follow Jesus. (Matthew 28:19)
And the few that are chosen to be history makers don’t need to be afraid missing out on God because God is very capable to communicate His message. Think about Jonah.
Of course this applies to us mere mortals as well. If God wants something special from you He will make that perfectly clear. You don’t have to be afraid you accidentally miss it.
So unwind – breath in, breath out – look around you and enjoy all the beautiful things God created. Then, do your utmost to take care of that and improve things when possible. Take care of the animals and the people in your surroundings. Try to love them as much as God does. Try to enjoy them as much as God enjoys His children. Preach the gospel and if necessary, use words.
Live in the assurance that “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
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