Question:
Answer:
Yes, God has a wonderful plan for your life, as the prophet Jeremiah proclaims in Old Testament times: “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). And as St. Paul and St. Peter both remind us, Jesus—God who became man for our sake—wills for every created person the greatest good possible—eternal salvation in heaven with him, the Father and the Holy Spirit (1 Tim. 2:4-5; 2 Pet. 3:9).
At the same time, Jesus says that we must carry our crosses in emulation of him, but that these crosses will be redemptive, not destructive, if we walk faithfully with him (see Matthew 16:24-25). Similarly, St. Paul teaches that we might undergo what could be called “severe mercies,” but they are permitted by God for our perfective good, not our destruction (see 2 Cor. 2:8-10). Similarly, in our own lives we can see that achieving worthwhile professional and personal goals requires self-denying sacrifices.
In addition, God’s plan for us takes into account our free will. God surely wants everyone one to be saved, as noted above, but he truly loves us and thus will not compel us to love him in return. The choice is ours, though our salvation cannot come without God’s grace. Because all time is present to God, who cannot be limited by something he creates, he necessarily knows our choices in advance of our living them out in history; and yet he provides us with free will to make those choices.