When Plans A to Z fail: Confronting life’s challenges

Isn’t it that when we are confronted with life’s many challenges, we turn to our problem-solving skills to come up with Plan A and even reserve a line-up of back up plans (from Plan B and so on) just to keep things under control? Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t always cooperate with all our perfectly laid out plans despite thorough preparations.

This is what I experienced recently regarding my personal finances. A client’s payment was delayed because of circumstances beyond my control. I was in such a dilemma when I was informed that I lack an important document in order for the payment to be processed. I immediately acted on it, only to be told to wait for about two weeks more for the release of the needed document. Whaaat?! The bills can’t wait and I really have run out of back up plans, from Plans A to Z, and after asking help from friends. And so, I counted the days until the scheduled release date. Excitedly I went to claim the said document, but I was greeted with an apologetic staff, explaining about technical problems in their system, the document is not yet available and I had to follow up the next week. Ugh.

Despite being in such a predicament, I didn’t worry though, I trust that God will make a way and sure enough, unexpected things just happen – an email informing me of a bank transfer, a loan payment which I totally forgot, and other financial sources that helped me through these difficult times. I realized that when faced with complicated situations, I just had to do my part and act on faith knowing that where our limited human understanding and problem-solving efforts fail, God’s limitless possibilities come in. One should not only prepare for disappointments and setbacks when plans go south but also be open to the many pleasant surprises that Divine Providence offers us every day.