Marco Rubio, a United States
Senator from Florida, was in the eyes of most political experts destined to
become the next great Republican President. He had all of the attributes:
young, handsome, good family, clean past, compelling “bootstraps” story,
eloquent. How could he fail? But then he did. And what he said the primary
election night when he got walloped in his own state of Florida reveals the
depth of faith one needs to pursue any worthwhile goal. Senator Rubio believed, up until that night,
that it was God’s will that Marco Rubio should be the next President of the
United States of America. And in this I
am sure he is not alone. Several, but not all, of the other candidates for the
highest elected office in the world, I am sure, also believe it is God’s will
that they will be the chosen one. Faith that we are doing God’s will keeps us
focused in the face of the most daunting of the challenges and personal attacks
that comes with pursuing anything worth accomplishing in life and for God.
Which leads me to the question
of the day: what do we do when we find out we misunderstood God’s will? Senator Rubio’s remarks, offered as he
suspended his campaign, offer a lesson in understanding the will of God for our
lives. He said: “…it is not God's plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever….”
Then he goes on to offer this mini-sermon: “"He has a plan for every one
of our lives. Everything that comes from God is good. God is perfect. God makes
no mistakes. And He has things planned for all of us."
When I watched Sen. Rubio
give this speech, my mind went to how it would be for him going to bed that
night. Would he be angry with God? Would he cry the tears that come with the
realization that God’s will and his own will were not one and the same? The
lesson is that sometimes we think we are doing God’s good and perfect will and then,
one night, we get the news: we were wrong. God has a different plan. Not a Plan
B, because God only has Plan A. We need Plan B (or C) because God reveals his
will in his own time and sometimes in startling ways, only after we have spent
most of our lives pursuing our Plan A because we thought it was God’s Plan A as
well.
God does have a plan for Sen.
Rubio’s life. He will now engage in the
struggle of aligning his will with God’s will. When you are disappointed and
frustrated with your life, wondering how you could have so misunderstood God,
you will do well to recall Marco’s maxim: “God is good. God is perfect. God makes no
mistakes. God has a plan.”
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