What is actually God's plan?

I have been meaning to talk about this topic on here all year and clearly I haven't done that based on the last time I posted, lol.

So I have been told pretty much my entire life that "everything that happens is according to God's plan" or "we have to follow God's plan" or something along those lines. Which is great, I guess. I mean I know God has a plan for everyone. But there is this other side that I've also been thinking about. How much work does someone have to do in order for God's plan to come to action? Like how do you know what is God's plan? Because I've heard different things, and I've seen different things.

I'm going to give a couple of examples just so you guys can have a better understanding of what I'm talking about because I know I can't explain it properly, lol.

NOTE: Assume in each example that the people involved are religious and believe in "God's plan" and have been praying about their situation.

EXAMPLE 1: A person has to take an exam and passing this exam allows you to get into a certain program. There are two possible scenarios:

SCENARIO I: Person takes exam and fails. They study more for it and fail a second time. After the third attempt, they finally get into the program.

SCENARIO II: Person takes exam and fails. They study more for it and fail a second time. After the second attempt, they decide that this isn't the path or them and decide to work on getting into another program.

If you were in this position, how do you decide which option was "God's plan"?

EXAMPLE 2: A couple is looking to purchase a new house in their town. There are three possible scenarios:

SCENARIO I: Couple starts house hunting. They go to 5 houses with their realtor. None of them are the right fit. So they decide to stay in their current house and just renovate.

SCENARIO II: Couple starts house hunting. They go to over 20 houses with their realtor. They find their perfect house after the 30th house.

SCENARIO III: Couple starts house hunting. They go 5 houses with their realtor. None of them are the right fit. They decide that it's time to leave their town and move to another city.

If you were in this position, how do you decide which option was "God's plan"?

EXAMPLE 3: A person is ready for marriage, but hasn't found the right person. There are three possible scenarios:

SCENARIO I: Person starts actively searching. Goes on dating apps and goes on dates with lots of people. After years of searching, they finally find "the one" and they live happily ever after.

SCENARIO II: Person starts actively searching. Goes on dating apps and goes on dates with lots of people. After years of searching, they decide that they are meant to be single.

SCENARIO III: Person does not go on dating apps or any dates. Meets someone out of the blue, hits it off, and after a year of dating, they decide to get married and live happily ever after.

If you were in this position, how do you decide which option was "God's plan"?

I know these examples are a bit exaggerated, lol. I think the most obvious answer to me in all these examples is that if they are all religious and have been praying about it, then obviously God revealed which "scenario" was the right way to go. Right?

Well, that's the thing. I actually don't know. You probably noticed in each example listed, there was at least one scenario that required a lot of work and effort rather than just waiting. How much effort are you supposed to put into making God's plans come to action in your life? Like are you supposed to just sit and wait patiently for it to happen? Or are you supposed to work extra hard and put in effort? I always feel bad talking "negatively" about my faith because it's the reason I'm alive, but as someone who has been praying and looking for signs for God's plan is for me, I still have no clue what the hell I am so supposed to be doing, so I've been over here wondering if am I putting too much effort? Or not enough effort? Or is there a happy medium? Because in some circumstances like school which requires studying, you can't really just sit there and be like, "Oh it's God's plan for me to become a doctor one day, I'm just not going to study at all." I know the most common response to this problem would probably be "well sarah, you probably aren't praying enough" which is probably true, haha. But even with lots of prayer and Bible reading, I haven't been able to get a clearer picture of what God's plan is for me. I touched on this topic in a blog post last year, so if you read that, I'm sorry that this seems to be redundant. This is basically a follow up to that post, lol. (Aka nothing has changed)

I guess my real question is... am I doing everything wrong? Or is it truly just a waiting game? Or is my current situation God's plan and I'm blind to realizing it? Or maybe God is just taking His sweet time in teaching me patience because I'm impatient. I don't know. I'm not necessarily wanting people' opinion, but more just wondering if other people are going through this well. Sometimes Christians like to make life look so easy and I just want y'all to know, it's not easy at all. Like this has been going on for YEARS and I'm just fed up at this point because I don't know what else to do except pray more? I'm just vicariously living through other people's lives. I know that sounds unhealthy, but I don't want other people's lives! I just want to be doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life like how other people are doing with theirs. If that makes sense.

Sorry for the ramble. Hope you guys are doing well.

Check out a post similar that I wrote last year: The real truth about my relationship with God.
Check out my last post: Some of my favorite things