{"id":8524,"date":"2026-01-21T19:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T19:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediumslateblue-snake-278037.hostingersite.com\/?p=8524"},"modified":"2026-01-23T07:14:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T07:14:37","slug":"god-had-big-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=8524","title":{"rendered":"God Had Big Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0by Billy Hallowell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world of lies, David Hoffman is on a mission to deliver truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoffman, author of \u201cRelationships Over Rules: 7 Principles to Lead Gracefully and Love Generously \u2013 Harnessing the Power of Relationships to Overcome Your Past and Embrace Your Future<\/a>,\u201d is a successful business and family man today \u2014 but his journey didn\u2019t start out that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world tells us all these rules of what you can\u2019t do,\u201d he told CBN News, citing some of the lies he was tempted to believe. \u201cI grew up Jewish, so I can\u2019t be a believer \u2026 I was raised in a broken household without a lot of love, and so I can\u2019t be married with kids and show them unconditional love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many people might buy into lies like these based on their circumstances, Hoffman said there\u2019s another path, one centered on the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to encourage people that, with [God] in the center \u2014 with the gifts He gives you \u2014 with the relationships He places in your life, you can reach your true potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoffman said his upbringing led to complex feelings and emotions. Overall, he felt a lack of love as a child, and this missing puzzle piece left him with a great deal of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy father left when I was 11,\u201d he said. \u201cI grew up with like a lot of neglect and I felt like I was alone a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoffman continued, \u201cI would ask God why He would let all these bad things happen to good people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s understandable why he felt so conflicted. Hoffman described a childhood filled with abuse. The challenges were profound \u2014 so much so that, when nourishment was reportedly withheld, he resorted to eating dog food when he was hungry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s just one example of his purported struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, Hoffman came to understand God\u2019s nature and character, realizing the Lord isn\u2019t the author of any of the evil we might face in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than living in lament, he came to appreciate this reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to encourage people \u2026 that your past does not define your purpose,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd your past doesn\u2019t dictate your potential. And, so, for me, not having \u2026 many loved ones in my life, not feeling a lot of love, not having a lot of opportunity \u2026 it made me crave those and appreciate those.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoffman said he has \u201clearned forgiveness\u201d and has \u201cno malice towards anyone\u201d from his past. In fact, the struggles have only made him stronger and more persistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdversity became a gift as I got older, because, again, I\u2019m grateful,\u201d he said, noting he doesn\u2019t want anyone else to feel the loneliness and pain he once experienced. \u201cI felt like I was always being told, \u2018No,\u2019 and so I want to always find the, \u2018Yes.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Hoffman, much of the chaos in his life was healed after becoming a Christian. Because he was raised religiously Jewish, he said he didn\u2019t hear about Jesus until he was 30 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnbeknownst to me, God had big plans,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know Him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoffman had recently moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, at the time and was working hard to find success \u2014 something he discovered after getting into real estate in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2008, business was booming, and then the economic crash hit him hard. Plus, Hoffman had a one-year marriage before his ex-wife left him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe money dried up and there was no faith foundation, and so we went separate ways,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One night, though, he felt a voice speak to him and that message changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, one day, I\u2019m meeting with a dear friend \u2026 who loves the Lord, and the night before, I heard God say to me \u2014 I didn\u2019t know it was God yet \u2014 but I heard an audible voice say, \u2018You\u2019ve trotted your way for almost 30 years. Give me a chance,’\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cAnd the next day, I went to lunch with a dear friend. And he said, \u2018David, you\u2019ve tried your way for almost 30 years. You look tired. Give it to God. Give Him a chance.\u2019 And this same friend had taken me to church two days earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that lunch in 2009, Hoffman realized how tired he was and how much he needed the Lord. Erupting in tears, he admitted his need for God, and his journey with the Lord commenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat Tuesday afternoon I said, \u2018I\u2019m tired. I\u2019m just tired, God. \u2026 I\u2019ve tried it my way long enough. I\u2019m just going to give it to you,’\u201d Hoffman recalled. \u201cThe next day, I met my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From then on, the puzzle pieces started to come together. Now, Hoffman sees how it all connected for God to work good in his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod makes no mistakes,\u201d he said. \u201cI just point to Jeremiah 29: 11 \u2014 \u2018He has a plan for us and for us to prosper.\u2019 And it\u2019s not always on our time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, he\u2019s focusing his attention on his blessings, and he hopes \u201cRelationships Over Rules<\/a>\u201d helps people discover God\u2019s plans for their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to encourage people that their past does not define His plan and purpose of their life or their potential,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cAnd that adversity they faced last night or 30 years ago \u2026 that is actually providing a unique perspective that only they have to really be grateful to see all that God is doing [in] their life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0by Billy Hallowell In a world of lies, David Hoffman is on a mission to deliver truth. Hoffman, author of \u201cRelationships Over Rules: 7 Principles to Lead Gracefully and Love Generously \u2013 Harnessing the Power of Relationships to Overcome Your Past and Embrace Your Future,\u201d is a successful business and family man today \u2014 but his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[121],"tags":[119,200,199,201],"coauthors":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-inspirational-stories","8":"tag-bible","9":"tag-god","10":"tag-testimoney","11":"tag-truth"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Hoffman.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8527,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524\/revisions\/8527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8524"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=8524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}