When Life Doesn’t Go According To Your Plan

A number of our friends & family are struggling with some really hard things right now.  Things that came out of nowhere and messed up their lives. So for now they’re hanging on as they wait for life to settle back in to some sort of better normal.

Unplanned turn of events
Unplanned turn of events

As I’ve been thinking about them I was reminded of a movie I saw a couple years ago – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was playing in an artsy theater in Palo Alto, so there’s a good chance you haven’t seen it or even heard of it.

It’s about a 20-something guy (Sonny) in India whose family owns an old hotel that’s very run down and hasn’t been open for a long time. He decides to open it as a residence for retired people, and he manages to convince a random group of older folk from England to move to India and live there.

Sonny’s the type of person that puts a positive spin on everything. No matter what is actually happening or what people are actually seeing, he tries to convince them to see beyond the present. Throughout the movie – as the new residents are experiencing life in a hotel that is still pretty run down – we hear him telling them, “Everything will be all right in the end. And if it is not all right, then it is not the end.” I love that! And it’s a really good paraphrase of Romans 8:28.

“We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

That’s a great reminder. When something is going on in your life that you don’t like so much, something that you really wish was different…  whether it’s a small thing or a really big thing, remember that verse. Remember that God is in control, and that this isn’t the end of the story yet.

Everything will be all right in the end. And if it isn’t all right, then it’s not the end.

by Bernice Gudgel