It is still early days in the new year and no doubt there are people whose plans for the year are already going awry. Some plans did not even take off because certain events happened at the beginning of the year, which threw spanners into the works for many.

For example, Nigerians woke up on the first working day of the year to discover that the government had increased the price of petroleum products. This led to protests for several days which led to the government reducing the increase to about 30% from the initial 100% increase.

For those who know the mechanics of the Nigerian economy, this increase has already pushed up the cost of living because all other prices are influenced by the price of petroleum products.

This singular event must have disrupted the plans many people have made in the first month of the year and may in turn affect plans for the remaining part of the year. Globally, people have lost jobs at the start of this year, practically grounding some people’s plans.

Many are watching the Eurozone countries and wondering what will happen during the course of the year. So when we have made plans and something goes wrong, what should be our attitude? The first thing that came to my mind as I thought about this issue, is that God knows about the situation even before it happens.

How do I know this? In John 11:14, Jesus told the disciples, ‘Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there , so that you may believe. Let us go to him” This was clearly a sad event. Jesus was about 2 miles away from Bethany, yet he knew the Lazarus was about to die. He did not rush there before Lazarus did; in fact he waited for four days before going to the tomb.

What followed next was the raising of the dead Lazarus , which made many to believe that He was indeed the Son of God. The first thing we need to keep in perspective as Christians is that nothing catches God unawares. He has not promised to give us immunity from adversity or from the accidents of life; what He promised is that He will be with us and that even in whatever situation we find ourselves, He will be glorified.

 In 1 Thess 5:18, we are told, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”. Note the word, ‘everything’. Not just the good but also the contrary. We must find a reason even in that situation to give thanks. Secondly, when our plans go south, it is not always an indication that it is not meant to be; sometimes it is test of our resolve to achieve what we have set out to achieve.

Once we set our minds to accomplish our God given plans, we can be assured that no matter what happens, God will help us achieve success. The children of Israel were celebrating their deliverance from Egypt . The tribes were probably already planning how they were going to build their cities as they looked forward to the place God has provided for them.

 Then they sent men to Jericho to spy the land. When they got there, only two of them came back with optimism. The other ten had scary tales to tell about the present occupants of the land. The people got swayed by the testimony of the other ten and because of this, they wondered in the desert for 40 years.

There are times however when our plans do come to a dead end. What do we do? As Christians, we simply go back to our source. God gives us direction when we come to our wits end. He never leaves us to wonder aimlessly except we choose to.

David was one man who knew what it meant to reach a dead end. He knew what it was to make plans and to see the plans blow in his face. What however made him a success was that he knew how to go back to the source and seek direction!

Are your plans for the year already shaky and you are beginning to think you may not be able to follow it through? Stop! Reassess your situation and lay them down before the Lord. He will lead you in the way you should go and when He prompts you to go ahead, just move on in spite of the situation around you, confident in God’s ability to see you through.

When it looks like failure is staring you in the face, do not stop, keep moving, just keep on keeping on! You will get to your destination because you have the greater one inside of you.

 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Prov 3:15)

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the owner of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He lives in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org