OWC 2026 Devotional | Week 3, Day 5

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME?

I’ve had multiple times in my life when plans didn’t go according to what I had in my mind and, even more so, in my heart. The greatest example of this was my path to motherhood. I had made many plans that I hoped would all culminate in the perfect preparation and timing for motherhood. I went to graduate school so I would have a graduate degree before becoming a mother. I made career decisions that would allow me to have a part-time position once I became a mom. I had savings goals, house goals, and a certain number of years into marriage that I wanted us to begin our family. I really thought my plans would unfold perfectly because of all the prayer and preparation I had put into them. However, the plan... did not go according to plan. We did get pregnant when we had hoped. We miscarried at 12 weeks and then miscarried three more times that year, early into each pregnancy. My heart was broken, and my plans were shattered. However, as unexpected and difficult as my journey to motherhood was, no one’s path was more startling than Mary’s.  

Read Luke 1:26-55 

We have all experienced plans not going according to plan, but immaculate conception may be the ultimate plot twist. Because of Mary’s incredible response and her prayer of praise, it can be easy for us to assume that this wasn’t unsettling or even scary news for her. As a young, engaged woman, Mary certainly had her own plans for her path to motherhood... and they most certainly involved more participation from Joseph! How could she have even prepared herself for her plans to be so derailed? Yet she does seem prepared because learning of God’s plan, although so different from hers, is met with praise and thanksgiving. 

She is not disappointed in this new plan because she has such confidence in Who made the plan. 

As much as she must have wanted her plans to happen, she deferred to the Lord and His plans, as she knew that His plans were always better than hers. She held loosely to her plans but tightly to the Lord’s, and that’s His heart for us too. He loves for us to have our own plans, dreams, and desires in our hearts; He just wants our hearts to desire Him most. When we place Him first, we can respond to His plans the same way Mary did: with hopefulness, gratitude, and worship. He is so worthy of being trusted with the plan for our life.   

My path to motherhood was painful, but I can see now how God has allowed it to be purposeful. I didn’t get there as quickly as Mary did, but I, too, eventually decided that no matter if any of my plans came about, I would still live surrendered to the Lord. I learned to desire God more than anything else; to trust in the Lord more than myself; and to trust in His plans more than mine.  

• What plans did you have in your heart that didn’t or haven’t yet come about? 

• What is the Lord revealing to you about trusting in His plan?