Message Minute (God's Plans Are Always Better)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

Mary had plans—marry Joseph, have children the normal way, live quietly in Nazareth, never be remembered by history. Gabriel's announcement seemed like a complete disruption. But God's plan wasn't a detour; it was an upgrade.

God's perspective is higher, His wisdom deeper, and His love for us greater than our love for ourselves. He doesn't just have a different plan—He has a better plan. But receiving what God has requires letting go of what we've planned for ourselves.

This is challenging because God's better plan often requires releasing our good plan. We can't grab hold of His best while clinging to our safe. Mary couldn't have both the predictable life she'd envisioned and the extraordinary life God offered.

What looks like an impossible disruption might actually be an invitation to something far greater than we could imagine. God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways surpass our ways.

Reflect: What "good plan" of yours might be preventing you from receiving God's better plan? How has God's faithfulness in the past give you confidence for the future?

Pray: Father, help me trust that Your plans are always better than mine, even when I can't see the full picture. Give me grace to release my grip on what I've planned and embrace what You've prepared. Amen.