God's Plan For Us: An Infinite Array Shaped by Agency

I think that God's plan for our lives is not as clear cut or predetermined as people sometimes talk about it. That is, I don't think God has a specific plan for us, so much as he has infinite wisdom about the traits that we need to develop, and the ways in which we can develop those traits.

Our paths in life are something that we co-create with God, and while He will nudge us away from things that are not good for us, He has a perfect ability to cause everything to "work together for our good", regardless of whatever poor decisions we make, or what unfortunate circumstances fall upon us.

So in that sense, our paths through life are not so much akin to following a GPS to a specific destination, as it is like a child and parent exploring a landscape together--there are definite places the child shouldn't be, and paths that are worse than others, but also infinite paths that could be equally good to take, and which the child can choose for themselves with the general help and guidance of the parent. So "God's plan" for us isn't one set thing, but an infinite array of plans, which cannot be thwarted by our mistakes, or the decisions of others, or by the pitfalls of chance.

Romans 8:28: "...all things work together for good to them that love God..."

D&C 58: 26-28: "For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things... men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will...for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves."