We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.

Proverbs 16:1 NLT

Today I was praying about what to write and I stumbled upon an old college essay I wrote. It was about where I would be in five years. Well, it’s been over five years. God put it on my heart to read it. I didn’t even get through the first paragraph before I started laughing. Here were these well-planned, researched, and written goals in front of me of getting a job in animation. I had multiple studios lined up, a portfolio I still have, and I even cited my sources in this paper. 

Here’s an excerpt from that paper:

Where do you see yourself in five years? That is a question, that when asked, it can quiet a room faster than a gunshot. Any question that addresses the inevitable future makes a room go quiet. People begin to think, where would I be in five short years?  What’s my plan? Then vague quick plans or ideas are put together, but are they reachable? Are they reasonable? I was one of those students who had a vague idea of where I was going. I was going to be working on either concept work or character design for Dreamworks animation. If that doesn’t work, my plan B is to work at the new upcoming animation studio, ZAG Toon. 

Yet where does God have me now?

God made me a teacher who makes stories and poems to tell her students. Sometimes I even draw with or for them too. He enables me to be a woman who can show others fun ways to look at movies and have fun. Not just movies either, but comics and books too. He blessed me with a bow (through my momma) that consistently teaches me about the power, grace, and faithfulness of God. It’s even another avenue to share a bit of the peace I have found in Him. God has even told me and guided me to where I am going to be in the future. And it’s still not a fancy animation studio.

Where God has me now, is not what I planned. But it’s right where I need to be.

The King James version says:

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:1

So many times when we plan, there is some part of ourselves that we don’t see. There’s a future we don’t know. But God does. He sees and knows your heart. He knows what you need. 

It may not be what you want. It may not even feel or be what you expected. I know that I’ve definitely felt some major bumps in the road and asked God why did that happen. Yet, in those moments, I learned a hurt that needed to be healed. I faced a truth I ignored, and I grew. Growing pains are not wanted, but they mean we are growing and alive. 

God knows how to grow our hearts. We just have to let Him be the Gardener, the Planner, our Father. 

So don’t lament about where you are. God can make anything grow wherever He wants. Just ask, well read, Jonah. And if someone asks where are you going to be in five years…well I now know my answer. I’ll be in God, so I’ll be right where He wants me to be.