Personal Considerations in God's Cosmic Plans

I'm astonished how frequently the Light the World challenge lines up with something I was going to do anyway. Last week, I was asked to help out in Primary that Sunday.  Shortly thereafter, I was asked to help again this week and next week as well, so this Sunday, the second hour of church found me in a classroom with a half-dozen Primary children, helping them learn about Moroni, the Gold Plates, and Joseph Smith. And it just so happens that today's Light the World challenge is to minister to children.

I wonder if God planned that. Probably not, since I'm only one person, and this Light the World challenge affects many. I don't think He tailored the challenge to match my opportunities, not do I think He tailored my opportunities to match the challenge. Why would He have given me this opportunity at this time when He could have just as easily given it to someone else? It's hard to imagine that God would have me factor into His great cosmic plans.

On the other hand, I'm not sure how strongly I believe in coincidences, either. God tends to plan things out; I doubt that He'd leave many things to chance, or that there could be many "happy accidents." For example, if God was planning whether or not it was going to rain on a given day, of course He would consider whose lives might be drastically affected by the rain, but I think He would consider the effect the rain would have on an individual's flower garden. I think He loves each one of us personally that He would take everyone into account while He's forming His cosmic plans.

Sure, things sometimes still don't work out. There are times when it feels like the universe is against you. But that's partly because we all share this one world. What might be good for one person might be bad for another, so God has to decide how to distribute His blessings and trials, knowing that what would be a blessing for one person could be a trial for another. Also, our trials can be blessings, if we let them help us develop personal strength and other Christlike attributes. Often, the trials we experienced are designed to create blessings for ourselves or others.

So, maybe God did factor me into the plan for this Light the World challenge. Maybe He created an absence in the Primary so I would be in the right place at the right time for me to have that convenience and end up writing a blog post about it. It's not impossible for God to have thought of that, considered it, and decided that that's the way things ought to be. Of course, I know that I'm not always going to be so blessed. Today, I got lucky. Tomorrow, I might be unlucky. But now, I believe it's all part of God's plan. We are all a part of God's plan, and He designs His plans around each and every one of us.