The summer after my senior year in high school, I went on Young Life's Wilderness Ranch backpacking trip. At each meal on each day of that week-long adventure in Colorado's backcountry a member of our group would share his or her “Life Story.” The solitude of the immense forest provided a safe environment for talking about things that wouldn't be said in the crowded city. Finally at the end of the meal and the conversation, one of the leaders, with a little ceremony, would ask a question asked of all the backpackers that come through the gates at Wilderness Ranch. Imagine there's a horse coming up the trail, and there's a saddlebag on his back. If anything you want could be in that saddlebag, then what would it be? I remember distinctly what I said as the brand new world of attending college loomed over me at the time. I answered, the blueprint for my life.
It seemed like a wise response at the time. After all, if I was going to construct this thing called “My Life” then I would need the instructions. However, I was to find, as we have all found, that our days do not always fit neatly into a set of calculations. Often there are detours or even roadblocks, and sometimes we need to “go back to the drawing board” altogether.
And, I would say, this is for the better. God is certainly in the business of laying out plans for this world and its people. To Jeremiah, he explained that He had conceived plans to prosper and not to harm, to give hope and a future (29:11). But these plans are not an architect's drawings that can be pulled from a saddlebag and stuffed in one's pocket. To do so would defeat the purpose. I would much rather punch in the numbers, get the answer, and get on with things. However, in doing so, I would be ignoring the One who in His goodness provides direction for my wanderings.