by Originally preached at Tulip Street Church by Lucas Johnson
My plan was never to be a minister. I went to nursing school, dreaming of getting my nurse practitioner’s license and moving to Denver—somewhere with mountains, hip coffee shops, and definitely not Mitchell, Indiana. I’d grown up here and wanted something different.
But while in nursing school, I couldn’t escape ministry. My dad kept volunteering me to fill in at local churches, I started a Sunday school, became a deacon—and no matter how hard I tried to run from it, ministry kept pulling me back. Like Jonah fleeing from Nineveh, I was running from God’s call.
When I finally surrendered to ministry, I made another plan: I’d plant churches in big cities, not work in small towns with “set-in-their-ways” congregations. But God had other ideas.
The Railroad Prophecy
Before moving back to Indiana, I met with Mike, a church planter from California with unique prophetic gifts. After our conversation, he prayed with me and said, “I’m getting this image of railroad tracks. Does this mean anything to you?”
I mentioned the unused railroad tracks back home, and he said it might be nothing—just thought he should share.
Fast forward: Lindsay and I ended up buying a house in Mitchell, and I found myself working at a small church in Salem, Indiana—exactly where I didn’t want to be. One day, walking near the church, I noticed the Railroad Museum directly across the street. Mike’s words echoed: “Does railroad tracks mean anything to you?”
Coming back to Indiana to work at a small church wasn’t my plan, but I believe it was God’s plan.
When God’s Ways Don’t Make Sense
This experience reminds me of Isaiah 55:8-9, where God says: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”
God has a plan for each of us, and it probably isn’t what we’d pick for ourselves. We have two choices: work with His plan or work against it.
The problem is, God’s plans don’t often make sense to us, and His timing is very different from ours. We get into trouble when we try to force God’s plans to fit our schedule—like Abraham and Sarah trying to hurry God’s promise through Hagar, or King Saul offering the sacrifice himself instead of waiting for Samuel.
Four Principles for Discovering God’s Plan
While I can’t give you a step-by-step roadmap (God doesn’t make cookie-cutter blueprints), I can share four guiding principles:
1. Seek the Kingdom of God
Jesus said in Matthew 6:33: “Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
Too often, we seek our own kingdoms, even in church. To shift our mindset, we need to:
Pray with the right heart. Prayer isn’t about convincing God to give you what you want—it’s about aligning your heart, mind, and will with His. Don’t expect God to think more like you after prayer; expect to think more like Him.
Read your Bible. If you’re unsure whether something is from God, consult Scripture first. God will never direct you to go against His Word. How can you recognize His voice if you don’t know Him through His Word?
Be active in church. Most churchgoers consider attending once a month “active”—but that’s just attending at best. At Tulip Street, we encourage three things: be involved in worship, join a study group, and find a place to serve.
2. Let God Direct Your Steps
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
We should do the good, normal things we know we need to do—work hard, love our families, be responsible. But when God opens new doors or shows us where we need to reevaluate our plans, we need to listen.
The church plant we helped in Knoxville is a perfect example. They bought a coffee shop in a run-down area, expecting to serve the homeless population. Instead, God sent them artists, college graduates, and people who’d never been to church—folks with tattoos, funky haircuts, and Doc Martens. Their original plan wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t what God had put them there to do.
3. Give Yourself Away
Jesus said in Matthew 16:25: “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
Whatever you leave behind will eventually fade away—property gets sold, money gets spent, cars rust out. But God’s kingdom is eternal. Christ’s Church has already outlasted empires, companies, and world wars. It will outlast any bank, business, or nation.
God has given us many blessings to enjoy—vacations, careers, families, hobbies. These are good gifts! But enjoy them knowing they’re temporary. Are you willing to let God use your job, family, and possessions for His plans? Or will you fight Him when things don’t go as expected?
4. Love One Another
This is God’s plan for all of us. Jesus commanded in John 15:12: “Love each other in the same way that I have loved you.”
The church isn’t just a building—it’s you. Your story is woven into the story of the church, and these are the people you’ll spend eternity with. The fastest way to experience revival in your personal life is to return to a loving relationship with Christ and with those God has placed in your life.
Jesus set the standard: He loved us so much that He died for us, paying the cost of our sins with His life. Through His sacrifice, we stand before God judged not by our sinfulness, but by Jesus’s sinlessness.
Your Adventure Awaits
Finding God’s plan isn’t a roadmap—it’s an adventure. It requires prayer, Scripture, active church involvement, and surrendering your will to His. It means being willing to let go of your dreams to embrace His design.
Remember: God’s thoughts are higher than your thoughts, His ways higher than your ways. Trust the journey, even when—especially when—it doesn’t look like what you planned.
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Daniel N. Lee 