plan | Susan Baganz

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Author Confessions: To Know or Not to Know?

I’m sitting here trying to get stuff done and trying to not fret about all the things that I need to do at some point. Funny how I was editing a book and my own words, written to my character, resonated with what I needed to hear today:

Ask God for the next best step to take right now.

I’m a planner. I like to know the plan. I can be flexible but it can emotionally be more of a stretch for me. The irony of that? When I write I don’t plan. I might have a back page blurb or even a character intereview but usually I don’t know how the story is going to unfold. Writing becomes a fun adventure.

Real life is truly no different. I am aware that there are certainties I will face this year and need to prepare for: taxes, building a house, eventually moving, finishing up some books so they can come out in November. Thinking about those things…and the multitude of steps and amount of time and energy they each require–can stress me out! And those are the things I am aware of! God may have other surprises up His sleeve (please, let them be fun ones!).

A wise person confronted me last week, telling me I’m too hard on myself. I expect too much of me, and can be overly critical when I don’t reach my own unrealistic expectations. Be present. Live in the moment.

Wow. That’s hard in so many ways when the future problems are twirling around in my brain!

So what am I doing? Writing a blog post about what I’m struggling with right now. After that? I’ll ask God.

In many ways, living in the present means enjoying every moment as it happens. I do have moments where I can do that. Some tasks I undertake, eliminate my ability to muse about the future. Most of those I enjoy. Playing guitar (when I took lessons) made it impossible to focus on anything else. Creating something new, embroidery, puzzles, making cards. On the not so fun side: organizing paperwork for our taxes!

Unfortunately I can’t spend my entire life doing those things alone. But blog posts won’t write themselves, and I have other things to do, that might get me “out of my head” as it were, and maybe I’ll be able to set aside all the anxieties over things that haven’t happened yet, and enjoy the moment in the here and now.

Sponteneity doesn’t come easy for me (except in writing a story), but God will continue to grow me in my abilitly to appreciate the surprises He has for me so I can relax and enjoy the many gifts He’s giving… as He gives them.

Whatever happens in the future–He will be there for me in that moment as well.

Happy 2026! Praying you can live in the moment too and savor the many gifts our Savior gives. I’m curious if you are a know or not to know person- planner or spontaneous. What keeps you in the present moment?

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Author Confessions: Imperfect Parallels to God’s Omniscience

Omniscience is a big word. God is King of kings and LORD of lords and ruler over all. He is in control of everything in the universe from the division of every cell to the weather changes. He, as royalty and the Creator and Sustainer of all life. He truly does know everything: past, present, and future and that in many ways should terrify us all.

In college I had a philosophy professor who was an atheist and delighted in tearing down any Christian who spoke up in class. In a class on Ancient Greek Philosophy, studying Plato, he singled me out in front of the class when I stated I believed in an omniscient God and free-will. Now I was young in my faith and had never really deeply contemplated the tension of these two beliefs. He then told me that I needed to debate another student who was an atheist to prove the existence of God.

I could sense the entire class gasping and holding their breath. Another Christian in class who would challenge the teacher would be so roundly chastised he would skip the next class.

I responded calmly. “I will not do this.”

“Why not?” he demanded.

“For one, it has no connection to what we are learning in this class. Two: No one else has to do this assignment. And three: I don’t need to prove God’s existence. He can do that on His own.”

Everyone was tense. He surprisingly backed down but did make me write my final paper on the topic of free will vs. omniscience for which he gave me an F and stated that he had a “personal problem” with my paper. I appealed and wrote it again after the course was finished and got a D. I had an A going in that class. He told me there was no way I could ever get an A on that paper. After that I reported his bias and misbehavior to the head of his department. I learned later he was denied tenure.

This man wanted me to solve, in ten pages or less, something that theologians have been fighting over for centuries. Whether you are a Calvinist or Wesleyan, I think that our attempts to put human paradigms over Scripture are going to be innately flawed and God will likely l laugh at us all and say: “You missed the whole point.” Studying and researching it is good but stay humble. There are godly people on both sides of this debate.

However free-will and omniscience work I have no clue, so if you thought I was going to solve this here, I’m sorry to disappoint you.

As an author I get a glimpse of this in my writing. I know the type of ending my characters will have: Happy. As I write their story without a plan it unfolds before me. Sometimes my characters surprise me. I doubt anything I do surprises God. The thing is, I always get my characters where I want them to be regardless of the surprises they throw in my way.

God writes stories through me, and He knows all the details. He also understands all the real-life plot twists, decisions, feelings, traumas, and healing that I endure on my journey through the story He is writing in my life. I need to trust Him as the Author. Worship Him. Obey Him. I will get where He wants me to be, and He will use me (and others He places in my path) for His purposes along the way.

Yes, this is simplistic, but sometimes we make the Christian life too complicated. Good theology should always lead to doxology: worship and obedience to our King and Creator. Surprisingly enough, even my sins are known by Him before I commit them and yet, He forgives me when I confess them and turn from them. The free gift of God’s grace doesn’t make much sense in a logical way either. There is a reason it is called faith. The fact that He predestined me to be His child doesn’t make sense either. I made a choice, a willful choice, led by the Holy Spirit, but God knew before I ever did that, the life I would live and the path it would take. My mind is blown by these concepts. How about you?

He knows my end as well. My dreams and fears. My hopes and disappointments. None of that escapes our holy, righteous, all-powerful God! There is comfort in that as well as deep awe when I stop to think of it.

That same God equipped me and called me to write stories that reflect aspects of His glorious character and the truths of Scripture. Not all my stories are deeply evangelical, but the truth is there in between the pages. It is also up to His Holy Spirit to use those words in the hearts and minds of the reader (or listener) if there will be any lasting impact from my labors.

This is why it is not a job to write – but a calling. God called me and led me to this work so I trust Him for the results, although I’m doing all I can with what I know to spread the word about my stories so others can be blessed and encouraged. And I hope my imperfect parallels to God’s omniscience gave you a little glimpse of how mighty He truly is.