It took me ten years before I came to that place of letting go of my dreams and relinquishing them for God’s plan for my life. Ten years of doing my own thing, running my show, determined to get what I wanted. In those ten years had you asked me if I wanted to live according to God’s plan for my life, I probably would have said yes, but it would have just been a cover-up because in truth, I wanted God to bless my plans. I wanted my dream to come true—hopefully with God along for the ride—but one way or another, it was my way or the highway. Is that where you are?

Take it from me: Don’t waste ten years or ten minutes trying to make your dreams come true. Trust a trustworthy God who has better plans than yours and who loves you unconditionally. During the eighteen months of grieving the loss of my dream, there were days when I just about didn’t make it. I came so close so many times to taking back the controls of my life into my own hands. But thankfully, I was spending time in God’s Word, I was getting to know God, and I knew I just couldn’t turn back.

What finally became so clear to me was that my basic problem was my fear of trusting God. And then I realized not only how stupid that was, but how sinful it was for me to trust myself and not the God who made me.

Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

There is no reason for you to fear God’s plans for your life. Satan has told you lies about how miserable your life will be if God it is in control, and he’s a good liar. The God of heaven and earth is a trustworthy God. You can trust him.

Moses is a case study of a man who came to understand God had a plan for his life, and it was a good one. You know how his life was saved as a baby by a very creative mother and sister. As Moses grew to manhood, he was educated as an Egyptian with all the privileges that came from being raised as Pharaoh’s daughter. No doubt his future looked bright and promising because he was the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

But he never forgot he was a Jew, one of God’s chosen people, so he wanted to help his people. Pharaoh kept the Jewish people in bitter servitude, and they were sorely mistreated. One day when Moses saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. He thought he was doing the right thing to defend his countryman, but the next day, when he saw two Hebrews fighting each other and tried to stop them, they turned on him and said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:14).

Well, this just blew Moses away. He thought his murderous act was a secret, but now he realized it wasn’t, and when Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to kill Moses. So, Moses fled from Pharaoh and lived in Midian, where he became a lowly, humble shepherd. For 40 years, Moses lived in exile in Midian. His life and dreams were changed overnight. And it was because of something he did; something he should not have done. Regardless of the reason, murdering another man was wrong. So, through his own actions his dream died. Now Moses figured his Plan A was ruined; he had to settle for Plan B.

Is this your story, too? Have you brought grief on yourself because of a foolish decision or choice? Has your disobedience—your sin—caused you to live with regret, think that you’ve lost your dream, and settle for the best you can do? You’re now relegated to Plan B—or C or D?

Moses figured he had blown it so badly, that God would never use him again. But he was wrong. After 40 years, as Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law at Horeb, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. God clearly spoke to him and gave him a new assignment—to go and set his people free from Pharaoh.

Moses is now a humbled man,