Episode 13 - When God Redirects the Plan
Show Notes:
Summary
What do we do when the plan changes?
In this solo episode of Glory & Grit, Stephanie talks about the disappointment, pressure, and scrambling that can come up when something shifts unexpectedly. Even small changes can stir up big feelings — making us wonder if we missed something, if we’re behind, or if we need to hurry up and fix everything.
But a changed plan does not mean God has left the plan.
Through Proverbs 16:9, this episode reminds us that planning is not wrong, but panic does not have to lead us. Sometimes what feels like an interruption may also be an invitation — to slow down, pray before reacting, release control, and trust God with the next faithful step.
Stephanie also offers three reflection questions to help listeners process changed plans honestly:
What changed?
What am I feeling about the change?
What might God be inviting me to trust Him with now?
Whether you are facing a delayed timeline, a closed door, an unexpected shift, or a plan that no longer looks the way you thought it would, this episode is a gentle reminder that God is still steady, still present, and still guiding.
The plan may have changed, but God has not...
Key Topics
When plans change unexpectedly
The pressure to scramble or force a solution
The difference between an interruption and an invitation
Releasing control and trusting God’s timing
Bringing honest feelings to God
Proverbs 16:9 and God establishing our steps
Trusting God in the pause, pivot, and redirection
Takeaways
A changed plan does not mean God left the plan.
Even small changes can reveal big feelings.
Disappointment does not mean you lack faith.
You do not have to clean up your emotions before bringing them to God.
Sometimes the interruption is an invitation to slow down and pray.
God can work through Plan A, Plan B, and the pause in between.
Faith does not require you to understand every turn before you keep walking.
The next faithful step may simply be to pause, pray, and trust...
Transcript:
Sometimes we only see the things that changed for us. But God sees everything we can't see. He can see the timing, the people, the preparation, the protection, the pieces that are still coming together. But faith doesn't require us to understand every turn before we keep walking, right?
Hi, friend. Welcome back to Glory and Grit, where faith meets real life. If you're new here, you may find it helpful to go to the earlier episode and check out the explanation of the heart behind Glory and Grit. I'm your host, Stephanie, and I just want to say, I'm really glad you're here.
Today, I wanna talk about what happens when plans change. Not necessarily when everything is falling apart, but sometimes things happen like something shifts or the schedule changes or you get interrupted and something just doesn't go the way that you expected it to.
And that kind of is happening right now. This was supposed to be a guest episode, but things happen. And we're grateful for those opportunities. And we send prayers and love for our guests, our future guests when they are experiencing life. What's the saying that they say? Life be life-in. And right now, that's what it's doing. So, you know, sometimes...
Plans change. Just so you know, I'm not just here saying these things to help you. They're also helping me because these things still happen to me as well, right?
So, and if we're honest, I mean, if I'm really honest, even small changes can stir up big feelings. You start to wonder things like, did I miss something? Am I getting behind? Did I?
Am I too slow? Do I need to go fix everything? And here's what I keep coming back to. And this is a mic thumper.
Just because the plan changes doesn't mean that God left the plan. Hello.
So are you ready to talk about that?
Deep breath.
All right, let's go. Now, we're people and people like plans. I like plans. We like plans because it helps us feel safe. We know what our goal is. We know where we're going. We know what direction or what path we're going to take. We know how many steps we have to take. So we know what's going on and we feel like we know what's going on. But when...
plans change, it can leave us feeling a bit exposed or unsteady. And you know, you can look on the outside and people might think, they're calm. They got this. It's no worries. And that's good because you want to portray that. But on the inside, you're like, my gosh, what is happening? What am I going to do next? You know, so you're scrambling in the inside.
And the truth is a delay can feel like you've been rejected. A closed door can feel like failure, really, like you failed to get through. Redirection can feel confusing, right? I don't know about you, but sometimes I can handle the big faith words better than I can handle the actual interruption You know, I can say, God's in control. But then when something changes, my first instinct is still to ask, okay, but now what am I supposed to do?
So let's talk about the distinction between interruption versus invitation. So often when we get interpretations, we feel like they're obstacles, like they're things we have to overcome. We have to climb over, under, around, through, But actually an interruption might not
just be there to disrupt things. It might be that God is using that interruption as an invitation.
It could be the interruption could be inviting us to slow down, moving too fast. It might be inviting us to pray before we react to something in a bad way, right? It could be inviting us to release control or at least the control that we're under the illusion we think we have. And it could even be that that interruption can reveal where we're depending more on the plan, stick with me, where we're depending more on the plan than God.
What if the interruption is not only something to get through?
What if it's sometimes something that God uses to get our attention? Or maybe he wants us to slow down, protect our hearts, or maybe he's even making room for something that we never would have chosen on our own.
That doesn't mean that everything is gonna be automatically easy and that every delay is still gonna feel good because it doesn't and it's not going to, but it does mean that the delay isn't outside of God's reach. You know what I mean?
Now, when plans change, we do feel the immediate pressure to fix it. We have to fix it immediately. We want to replace it with something right away. And then we start getting what I like to call the overs We overthink, we over plan, we overwork, and we over apologize.
Sometimes obedience looks like just pausing for a second and not forcing a solution. Just pause, right? And I have to admit, one of the hardest things for me is not to immediately try to patch the plan back together because I want to fix it. I want to explain it. I want to organize it. I want to reschedule it. I want to replace it. I want to make it makes sense as fast as possible, right?
But sometimes the most faithful next step is not frantic movement. Sometimes it's simply just pausing long enough to ask, Lord, what are you doing here? And what are you asking me to trust?
So I'm gonna give you three questions, three reflective questions that can help you whenever your plans go haywire, right?
Question number one, what changed?
Sometimes we need to name what's actually changed before we can deal with the feelings that it brought about. So what actually changed?
Did the timeline change, the opportunity, the relationship, your plan got delayed, a door closed, the answer wasn't what you expected? What changed?
Question number two.
What am I feeling about the change?
We're Okay. And you are allowed to have emotions, right? So disappointment doesn't mean that you have a lack of faith. Frustration doesn't mean that we don't trust God and you can have grief even in the smallest of changes. And you know, God can handle our honesty. Let's understand that.
We do not have to clean up our feelings before we bring them to God. We can take them to him just as they are because God's not intimidated by your disappointment, nor is he offended by your honesty. He already knows where your heart is and he invites you to bring it to him instead of pretending that everything is fine and that you can fix it all.
Question number three, what might God be inviting me to trust him with now?
Trust him with timing, the outcome, with reputation, with the next step. Trust him with what we can't control. So, Sometimes the change plan reveals that I was gripping something too tightly. was holding on to it, trying to control it so tightly. And God, in His mercy, didn't shame me for it. He just gently invites me to open my hands again to Him.
What a loving Heavenly Father we have, right?
All right, the scripture for this week is Proverbs 16, 9. And it says, a man's heart diviseth his way, but the Lord directedth his steps. And another translation of that is the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
I love that this verse doesn't say that planning is bad. it says the heart of man plans his way. We do make plans. We should make plans, but We should also be reminded that the Lord is the one who establishes our steps. So that means that I can plan with wisdom, but I don't have to panic when God comes in and adjusts my steps.
And sometimes the change plan, it isn't even a huge thing, but sometimes it's just enough to knock us off balance and reveal how much pressure we're really carrying.
God is not limited to the original plan. God can work through plan A, plan B, and throw all the pauses in between, right? The pauses are not wasted.
That delay could be protecting something. That redirection might be preparing something. And that change might even give someone else the space and time and healing and readiness that they need or that they'll need to have you maybe help them.
Sometimes we only see the things that changed for us.
But God sees everything we can't see. We only see the trees in the forest. God sees the forest as a whole. He can see the timing, the people, the preparation, the protection, the pieces that are still coming together. And That doesn't mean that we'll always understand the redirection right away, because sometimes we won't right away or later either. But faith doesn't require us to understand every turn before we keep walking, right?
so if something has shifted in your life recently, I want to gently remind you, you are not automatically behind. You are not automatically forgotten. You are not automatically outside of God's will because something didn't happen the way you expected it to.
Nothing is outside of God's scope. So take a breath.
Bring it to God.
Ask for wisdom.
and then take the next faithful step.
And remember this, the plan may have changed, but God is still steady.
This week, maybe the invitation to you is not to force the plan back into place. Maybe the invitation is to hold it up with open hands and say, Lord, I thought it would look one way.
But I trust you to lead me even here, even in this mess.
Because when God redirects the path, He's not abandoning us. He's still guiding. He's still present, still working, and still faithful.
Mm.
If this episode resonated with you, friend, please take a moment and use the reflection guide this week to help you search, ponder, and pray about how you respond when the plan changes. You can find the guide at gloryandgritpodcast.com, spell out the word and. I'm Stephanie and I want to thank you for being here with me today, even if it wasn't part of your plan. Prayerfully, next week, I'll see you then and introduce you to one of our awesome guests.
Bye now...
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