I saw a headline this morning, commenting on the disappointment of the Duggars, upon learning that their reality show was canceled. The quote was something like, “They thought the show was God’s plan.”
Okay, first of all, I must acknowledge that there are a million different ways this blog post could go from here. I’m sure some of you reading thought, “A reality show? Part of God’s plan? Ha!” (Or maybe I’m the only one who dramatically thinks “Ha!” on occasion.) But truthfully, I don’t see any reason that a reality show couldn’t be part of God’s plan. I’m not the one to comment on whether or not this particular show was part of God’s plan or not, but that isn’t the issue for me. The issue for me is the “They thought” part of the quote. To me, that implies that because the show has been cancelled, they are now doubting what they thought to be true.
I didn’t read the article beyond the headline, and I’ve never watched a single episode of their show, but I read enough entertainment news to have a working knowledge of the ins and outs of this particular scandal. But I’m not here to comment on that, either. The show was on for, what…six or seven seasons? But now, because the show has been cancelled, they must have been incorrect in their belief that it was part of God’s plan?
I believe strongly (in fact, I know) that it is not part of God’s plan for me to work in banking right now. But I also believe that for many years, it was part of the plan. The plan hasn’t changed. But that part of the plan has been carried out, and we’ve moved on to the next stage.Think of Moses! Don’t you think that when his “reality show” was cancelled, and he knew it was time to leave his privileged life as Egyptian royalty, there was at least a passing thought or two of, “But it seemed like that was God’s plan…”? And though I don’t believe that the Apostle Paul ever looked back on his days as Saul, a persecutor of Christians, with fondness and nostalgia, I do believe that while he was persecuting Christians, he believed he was following God’s plan.
If Moses had not spent his early years in the palace, he would not have been in a position to be a voice for the Israelites. If Saul had never persecuted Christians, we may not have cared nearly as much about anything he said and did once he became one. And if the Duggars hadn’t had a reality show, none of us ever would have heard of them.
Sometimes I think we mistake the plan for the goal. The plan is not the goal. We follow the plan to achieve the goal.
The Year of Blogging Faithfully 