“God said, ‘write your plans in pencil, but give Me the eraser. I might have something better for you'” (Carey Goins).

That’s the best plan for the future. Write your plans in pencil, and let God have the eraser. I still love the idea that God gives the very best to those who leave the choice with Him.

Every time God told me no, it was always a redirection to something better. It was like when my GPS reroutes me and saves me time on my commute, only better. God’s reroutes often lead to hidden blessings that I would have missed had I maintained my own original course.

There’s a proverb that says that we make our plans, but God is the one who directs our steps. We can take the finite and limited amount of information we have to determine what to do next, but when we leave it in God’s hands, we can rest in the one who sees it all.

I still get frustrated by what seems like God’s delays, but I also tend to forget the past where those delays were saving me from getting what I thought I needed and finding out it was not at all what I wanted. Had I known what God knows, I would have chosen what God chose for me.

“God never witholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God’s refusals are always merciful — “severe mercies” at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts desire except to give us something better” (Elisabeth Elliot).