Thursday, July 24, 2008

Our Plans

Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 19:21, Jeremiah 29:11

I was taught my entire life that God had a plan for my life and that I had to find it. This came across to me like God was hiding this plan under some rug in a big, huge house. It almost seemed impossible to me to be able to find this plan.

Several years ago, B. J. and I read a book about the will of God. It presented two different outlooks on finding God's will for our lives. The first outlook is the traditional way I had been taught of having to find the spot on the floor in the house, even if the spot was under a rug! The other outlook is just being in the house, meaning obedience to Christ.

As I have studied and prayed about this topic further, I truly believe that God has a plan. We find that all throughout scripture. And, I also believe that we are not big enough to mess that plan up. When we make a decision that is not the best for our lives, God is not wringing His hands in distress trying to figure out what to do now. He was already there, knew the decision that would be made, and He knows how He is going to use it in our lives ultimately for His glory.

Look at the life of Abraham. He tried to get ahead of God and had his own ideas of how God was going to give Him a son. Even though what Abraham did was wrong, God still carried out His original plan. Abraham was not big enough to mess up God's plan and neither are we. I hope this will free your spirit the way it did mine! I used to be so legalistic about God's will for my life that I would worry about being at the right place at the right time so that I would meet the right husband and have the right kids!

We cannot mess up what God has put into motion. Detour maybe, but He is going to bring about what He has had planned from the foundation of the Earth. Trust Him to order your steps even in the difficult times. Just because you are in a valley does not mean you made a wrong turn. Remember nothing grows on the mountain top so sometimes we have to be led into the valley.