Is it possible to mess up God’s plans?

Is it possible that you are believing a lie about your performance that is causing you to miss God’s sovereignty, grace, and mercy?

Does everything really depend on you?

Do you believe you need to be a robot for God to use you?

For many high performers, it’s easy to believe the lie that everything depends on me or I have to do everything just right for God to use me.

It’s easy for high performers—who may idolize their careers at times—to feel like everything falls on their shoulders. But this is actually a self-righteous and ungodly limiting belief that the enemy uses against us (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Trap of Self-Reliance

Until a few weeks ago, I kept believing those lies.

I did not fully understand God’s sovereignty. I cognitively knew better, but the spiritual revelation had not yet come alive in my heart. Instead, I lived as if it was all up to me.

The result? Pressure and fear. Pressure to do everything perfectly, which fed my perfectionistic thinking. Fear that I would fail God and somehow miss my exit to His will for my life. This created a vicious cycle that left me rigid, stressed, and discontent.

The lie sounded like: It’s up to you, Liz. You already messed up once. You can’t mess up again. If you do, God will find someone else. You have to work harder, stay more focused, and make work your entire life if you want to fulfill God’s will.

My performance became my god (Isaiah 2:8).

Even worse, I was trusting in the enemy’s schemes rather than God’s promises (John 8:44).

The Truth About God’s Sovereignty

Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6 that it is God who will begin, continue, and finish the work He started in you.

Hebrews 12:2 reminds us that God is the author and finisher of our faith.

Yet, I kept believing the lie that I could mess everything up and that everything depended on my efforts.

It’s almost laughable—I believed I could accomplish God’s will when in reality, I cannot. I can only do His will through Him working in me (John 15:5).

It’s ironic how the enemy deceives us into thinking that we’re bigger than God. Absurd to read—yet so easy to believe.

I became incredibly performance-focused. I kept believing the lie that I had to do more, move faster, and be everything. Classic perfectionistic thinking rooted in the Type-A personality—the belief that performance equals love and success.

The Pagan Mindset of Earning God’s Favor

I negated God’s mercy and grace, acting as if my righteousness earned His blessing (Ephesians 2:8-9). I was no longer walking in the freedom Christ died for—I was acting like a pagan, believing that if I had less sin in my life and was more holy, God would notice and bless me.

But that’s not how God operates. Our wickedness does not frustrate or thwart His plans. In fact, He can and does use even human sin to accomplish His purposes (Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28).

Instead of trusting His sovereignty, I let pride take over. I was afraid that I could stop or mess up God’s plans. Now, I know in my heart that this is not true.

Proverbs 16:9 tells us that a man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. This is good news! It means that no mistake or failure is final—God is sovereign over all.

Trusting God More Than Myself

The shift I had to make was remembering that God is bigger than me. It’s not about trusting myself to obediently carry out His will, but about trusting that He will complete His will through me (Isaiah 46:10).

I had to trust that if I was being disobedient—while having a deep reverence and heart attitude of wanting to obey—God would correct me (Psalm 32:8). I had to walk by faith, trusting that if I was off track, He would make it clear.

At the same time, I had to recognize that God sometimes allows people to continue in disobedience if their hearts are hardened or they are unwilling to seek Him (Romans 1:28, Hebrews 3:7-8). But for those who genuinely seek Him, He is faithful to redirect, correct, and restore (Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 3:5-6). This gave me peace—knowing that as long as my heart was set on seeking Him, He would not allow me to stray indefinitely.

A powerful example of this is found in 1 Kings 3:5-14, where God appeared to Solomon in a dream, giving him wisdom and setting him on the right path. God intervenes when His people are truly seeking Him, ensuring they are not led astray.

I had to reverse my beliefs and start trusting Him to complete His will more than trusting myself to complete it (Zechariah 4:6).

The Right Balance

It’s a delicate balance of trusting God as if everything depended on Him while working as if everything depended on me (Colossians 3:23). But the key difference is remembering:

I work for God, not for myself. My job is to be obedient while waiting and trusting in Him.

Instead of what many do—making their own plans and asking God to bless them—it’s better to do the opposite. Pray first. Allow God’s Word to be the foundation of your plans. Then, work with diligence and excellence, submitting it all to the Lord, trusting that He will guide you if you are off course (Proverbs 16:3).

Final Thought:

What would change in your life if you truly trusted God’s sovereignty? If you let go of the pressure and instead walked by faith, believing that He is faithful to complete His work in you?