PLAN A / PLAN B
Life doesn’t always turn out like we planned, does it?
We like to make plans, but looking back now – how many of us can honestly say life has gone according to our Plan A?
Probably nobody…
Because we may start with a Plan A… and then Plan B knocks on the door, moves in, and eats everything in the fridge.
At 11, my Plan A was to make a living drawing superhero comics.
At 14, I wanted to be a vet… then realised that mean university and I was getting done with school and wanted money instead.
At 16, I had no clue, was pretending to go to sixth form, and applied for both the police and army. Ended up joining the Police Cadets because they said yes first.
Up to then I didn’t know God – so why consult Him?
By 21, I gave my life to Jesus. And just before we got married, Zoe came to me and said, “I think God wants me to tell you something… wherever God sends you, whatever He asks you to do in the future, I’ll go with you.”
I thought, “That’s nice – but I’m a policeman. In Manchester. I’ve got my life sorted.”
Now I love what I do… but to be honest, this wasn’t my Plan A.
Your story will have different details but similar moments:
- Jobs lost
- Friendships gone
- Health issues
- Things hoped for that never arrived
It can feel like Plan A slipped away.
But Christmas teaches us something vital:
Where you feel like you’re on Plan B… God is always on Plan A.
MARY’S PLAN A
Mary absolutely knew what it was like when life goes nothing like your plan.
Mary’s Plan A?
A quiet life.
A good marriage.
Honour in her community.
A wedding to Joseph the carpenter – a great guy who loved God.
Virginity until marriage and purity was a badge of honour in that culture, not the only sexual choice it’s acceptable to mock, as it often is now.
Mary had her plan. Until the day an angel appeared:
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you shall call Him Jesus.”
Luke 1:31
This is an invitation into God’s Plan A.
Nothing coercive. Gabriel greets her with honour:
“Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”
“Highly favoured” in Mancunian translates as, “You lucky thing!”
Why?
Because God has a bigger plan for your life than the one you’re settling for!
This is how God turns up in our lives too, if we are open to unexpected messengers inviting us into heaven’s plans, even though it can seem scary when we prefer our safety and security.
He tells her not to be afraid. God isn’t overriding her will; He’s inviting her to surrender it.
Saying YES to God meant saying NO to her own Plan A.
Gabriel gives the headlines:
- You will conceive
- You will call his name Jesus
- He will be great
- Son of the Most High
Not a lot of detail. That gets worked out as we go – because heaven’s proposal always boils down to this:
Will you say YES – and TRUST God?
Mary has a choice. God never forces Himself.
But this new plan comes with cost:
Suspicion.
Stigma.
Scandal.
Possibly stoning!
Even generations later, people accused her of sleeping with soldiers. The slander “Jesus ben Pantera” (son of a Roman soldier) lasted for centuries. Jesus’ opponents said to him, “WE are not illegitimate children…” you see the implication?
And honestly –
Would you have believed her story?
Mary Did You Know?
No!
Mary didn’t even know whether Joseph would stick around.
We know he didn’t at first – he planned to break off the engagement quietly.
From her point of view, it looked like Plan B.
But from God’s point of view?
Jesus was always Plan A.
His name, however ordinary when the angel just said “Joshua” was already chosen – “God to the rescue.”
And Mary responds:
“I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
Luke 1:38 (NLT)
Simple – not easy.
Scared – probably.
Trusting – absolutely.
Mary didn’t know WHAT or HOW…
But she knew WHO.
She knew God’s Word, God’s character, God’s promises.
She knew:
The God who calls you is the God who goes with you.
THE DIVINE CONCEPTION
Christmas didn’t start in a manger.
It started in Mary.
This wasn’t just a virgin birth – it was a divine conception.
When she conceived, eternity became an embryo.
The same word brephos is used for unborn John the Baptist and newborn Jesus. God doesn’t downgrade dignity.
Jesus is called “the Holy One” while still in the womb.
The incarnation dignifies the whole span of human life – before birth, at birth, after birth.
WITHOUT KNOWING THE ENDING
Mary wasn’t reading Luke 1 – she was living it.
Writing it with her obedience.
She didn’t know about the star, shepherds, wise men, miracles, cross, or empty tomb.
All she knew was:
“God is good. His plan is better.”
Isaiah 55:8–9:
“My ways are higher…”
Her Plan A was ordinary.
God’s Plan A was extraordinary.
She said YES – and became part of our salvation story.
INVITATION FOR US
If you don’t know what to pray, here’s a good place to start:
“I am the Lord’s servant. May everything He wants to happen come true for me.”
When we say YES to God’s plan, we see God’s promises come to pass.
Many of us feel like we’re not on Plan B anymore – more like Plan F.
But I’ve realised:
1. Nobody is living their original Plan A. Life happens to everyone.
2. Because of Jesus, God offers His Plan A for your life today. A repurposed life.
God never promised to bless your plan.
But He will always bless His plan.
Proverbs 3:5–6 – “Submit to Him… and He will make your paths straight.”
THE GOSPEL – GOD’S PLAN A
Our sins are simply the times we made our own plan and put ourselves first.
Jesus came to rescue us – God’s Plan A.
His “yes” in Gethsemane –
“Not my will but Yours be done” –
opened the way for us to return to God’s plan for our lives.
So here’s the invitation:
Will you say YES to God’s Plan A?
Following Jesus means surrendering the steering wheel.
But His plan is always BEST.
MARY’S LAST ADVICE
In my booklet Knowing Growing Going, session one – we look at Mary’s final recorded words:
“Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John 2)
There’s God’s Plan A for your life.
Simple. Transforming.
Just say YES to Jesus – every day.