I watched my daughter fall in love two winters ago. She was a college student and he was an artist. There were plenty of practical, unanswered questions hanging in the air. But before getting to those, we had a more basic set of questions to sort out. What is God's plan? Does He have one for us as individuals? It's much easier to work out the details of our lives when those larger, underlying questions are considered first. Then, major decisions—marriage, career options, school choices—and even what we think of as minor decisions, like where and with whom we should spend our time, whether we should fly or take a train, or what meeting we should attend, are better clarified when we can acknowledge that there is actually a spiritual Planner at work in our lives. We can be protected from wasted steps and avoidable mistakes.
We have a divine right to define our home and relationships, and to follow closely God's unique plan for us. God's universe is ordered and deliberate, not vague or chaotic or chancy. We have a specified place in God's kingdom. We have definition. We have use. We matter. We are not lost or nonessential. None of God's ideas are extra, overlooked, or arbitrary.
The Old Testament tells the story of Elisha and a widow, the same widow whose son Elisha had raised from death. See II Kings 8:1–6 . When drought is forecast for seven years, Elisha tells her to leave her land during this time. She is obedient, and after the seven years she returns to ask the king to give her land back to her.
