God's Other Plan

Acts 27:21-22

But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.

Paul told the shipmaster that God had instructed him that they should not leave because of a storm that was on its way. This shipmaster did not listen to Paul; instead, he set sail to take these prisoners to their destination. Sadly, they found themselves in the middle of a storm that seemed as if it would take their lives. Had this shipmaster listened to the apostle Paul, the lives inside the ship would not have been at risk, and the ship would not have been destroyed.

However, there's a great lesson in this story that we often overlook. Paul reminded the shipmaster that he should have listened, but then he turned and said to the shipmaster to be of good cheer because there would be no loss of any man's life, but the only loss would be of the ship. Here is the truth that we often don't see. God's original plan was for them to wait until the storm passed, but because a man did not listen, God had another plan to get Paul to Rome.

Many people in the Scriptures have forced God back to the drawing board to come up with another plan, but the mercy of God is that He always has another plan for your life when you mess up the original one. God originally intended for Adam and Eve never to sin, but when they sinned, God came up with another plan. God originally intended for Abraham to only have one child, but when he messed up the original plan, God mercifully came up with another plan. God originally planned for Samson to be a righteous leader to deliver Israel from the Philistines, but when Samson messed up the original plan, God drew another plan that was accomplished at his death. We could talk about God’s original plan for David's life, Saul's life, and even the apostle Paul's life. In each case, these men messed up God's original plan, but God, in His mercy, came up with another plan.

My friend, so you have messed up God's original plan for your life; this does not mean that you need to sit and mourn for the rest of your life. You must remember that God is the God of another plan for those who have messed up His original plan. Just because you have messed up God's original plan does not mean that God does not have any mercy to draw up another plan. As long as you are alive, God has another plan for your life. God's mercy is great enough to redraw another plan for your life when you have messed up His original plan.

Are you looking at your life as if you have ruined God's original plan for your life? There are many people whom God has used mightily after they messed up His original plan. This should encourage you that He can still use you. Stop sitting and sulking about what you could have had, but get up and do something for God. God cannot use you for the other plan if you sit and do nothing. God has another plan for the lives of those who have messed up the original plan; they just need to get up and start serving Him again. There is no life that can go so deep in sin that God cannot use them. As long as you are alive and breathing, God's mercy has redrawn another plan for your life. It is your responsibility not to mess up the other plan, but to fulfill it. Get busy serving God, and you will find that God will use you in the other plan to do something mighty for Him.