"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11
Have you ever done something
that you did not want anyone to know about? Did you go to great lengths to hide
your actions, even from the Lord? Did you wait until darkness, so no one would
see you (Isaiah 29:15)?
Sometimes we even plan our deeds before we fall asleep and then boldly get up
the next day and carry them out (Micah 2:1). The Lord is very clear that He will not help His
obstinate children who carry out activities that He does not initiate, or those
who make
alliances against His will, or those who
heap sin upon sin and who do not follow the leading of His Spirit (Isaiah
30:1).
We often take God’s
protection and provision for granted. We do not even acknowledge Him until we
need something. Then, when we do pray, we give God a litany of our gripes and
ask Him for things we covet. We forget to praise Him for what He already gave
us. We neglect giving Him glory for the wonderful blessing He gives us each and
every day. We never notice the flowers, the snowflake, the spider web, the
formations in the clouds, the flu bug that never developed, the food on our
table, the gas for our car, the home appliances that never break down. Yet, we
are quick to blame Him when something does go wrong. When He uses the trials in
our life to mold us into Christ’s image, we do not fail to indict Him for what
we believe is His failure to keep up His part of this bargain we made with Him.
How silly we are for
arranging what we will do today or tomorrow, because we do not even know what
will happen at that time. What is our life, but a vapor? We live for a little
while and then we vanish. We boast and brag about what we do for the Lord, but
if it is not His will for us, then all of our boasting is evil. God wants us to
adopt the attitude, “If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do His will"
(James 4:13-16). Sadly, many are
commended for their faith in God and their marvelous works in His name, but
they will not receive God’s promise for them. This is because God had something
better planned for them, to bring them and the Body of Christ to perfection,
and they are ignoring His desires for their life (Hebrews 11:39-40). They are building up their own kingdom on the earth
instead of God’s Kingdom.
God has a predestined plan
for each of our lives. He works out everything according to the purposes of His
will (Ephesians 1:11). He is our God.
We live to exalt and praise His name. He is perfectly faithful to us in every
area of our life, doing marvelous things for us that He planned before the
beginning of time (Isaiah 25:1; Jeremiah 29:11). He is so powerful that He foils the campaign of entire nations and He
thwarts the plans of governments and people who desire to do things that are
contrary to His plans (Psalm 33:10).
Only the Lord’s plans prevail (Proverbs 16:9, 19:21).
Believers have a
supernatural reservoir in our life that most people never tap into. We are
wasting their time and our lives by scheduling our own activities without
praying about it first, because the Lord wants to determine our steps. In order
to receive God’s blessings, all we need to do is to commit to do the Lord’s
will, and our plans will succeed (Proverbs 16:3). Then, there is no need to worry about anything, even
what we will eat and drink and what we will wear. God knows exactly what we
need and He provides for His faithful saints. All He asks is that we seek first
His kingdom and live righteously, and He will supply everything we need. We do
not have to worry about tomorrow, for He will provide (Matthew
6:31-35). As we walk by the Spirit, all
things will work out for our good (Galatians 5:25; Romans
8:28).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, as we align our
life with God’s Word (James 1:22)
and Will, lead us by Your Spirit. You are the living Word, and You are God and
You are with God (John 1:1). Thank You
for honoring our obedience to You (James 1:22; Matthew 7:24-27). Make us Your true disciples, who obey You unwaveringly (John
8:31; 1 John 2:3). We may slip up and
give in to temptation from our flesh, the devil or the world; but convict us to
quickly repent and restore our faithful relationship with You. As we walk in
Your will, we trust You with all of our heart to provide for our needs and to
protect us in every storm and trial we ever encounter in life.
Thought for the Day:
We often labor in vain,
because we do not allow the Lord to build our lives according to His plans. -
Psalm 127:1