God Will Work Out His Plan For Your Life
Dear Friends,
You may have read a previous post ("Looking Ahead") which I wrote at the end of last year. In it I shared that I want to spend time alone with God, seeking what he wants for me in 2014. I am still in the process of doing this and have just gone through last year's journal to see how God has been with me, leading and preparing me for what will come this year.
There was a verse I had written down in my journal last summer and God brought it to my attention again. It's Psalm 138:8 and David says "The Lord will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me." (NLT) There are some wonderful truths and promises for us in just this one verse. Let's take a few minutes to look at these:
1. God is a God who plans. I like to make plans, I plan out a weekly menu so I can plan a shopping list, I make plans to go out with a friend for coffee, I make plans as to how I will spend the weekend, I plan to visit my sister in the coming school break. Everyone makes plans, plans for a wedding, a holiday, a night out with friends, planning a dinner party etc. However, when it comes to our plans, there is no guarantee that what we have planned for will actually happen, we can't plan for all eventualities, sometimes circumstances are out of our control and disrupt our plans. Not so with God, he sees the end from the beginning, he knows the outcome, so when God plans for something it happens just as he planned. "But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken." Psalm 33:11 (NLT) When Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3 God already had planned that he would send his son, Jesus, as the Saviour of the world (see Genesis 3:15) and 2,000 years later Jesus is born. "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:10 (NLT) God has planned that we will one day live with him for eternity, we have that promise in John 14:2-3 "There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (NLT)
2. God has a plan for your life. Not only has God planned and promised a life with him for those who love him, he also has plans for your life, my life, and his plans for us are always for our good. "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT) Have you asked God what his will is for your life? Do you have a dream, a goal, a desire to do something that you just know God has planned for you?
3. God's plans cannot be thwarted. We have the promise that he will work out his plans for us. We can have confidence in God because he always does what he says he will do and he has the power to do it. We can trust him with our life. This is important because there will be days when the going is hard, when we feel that progress is slow, when circumstances are against us, and days when we question that it will ever work out. In those times we need to remember and rely on his promises to us. That's one of the reasons I keep a journal so that, particularly when it's tough, I can look back and remind myself of God's promises and his faithfulness.
4. God will make it happen. God will work it out, not me, and not you. This requires humility on our part as we hand over control of our life and submit to his plan. It also requires patience as we wait for his timing to work things out. When God reveals his will and plans for us it doesn't necessarily mean that it will happen immediately. Often he takes us through a time of preparation, to make us ready. We need to learn to say, in your time Lord, not in mine, in your way, not my way. We can hold onto the promise that he will work it out. As God works it out we are not expected to sit back and take it easy, no, we are to keep trusting him, keep our focus on him and keep in tune to his leading and direction and demonstrate a willing obedience.
Like David, we can have confidence that God will work out his plan because God is a faithful and loving God. Nothing and no-one can take that love away from us. In Romans 8:38-39 it says "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NLT) God is faithful to his word and because he loves us we can trust that his plan, his will for us is right and good. God created us and he will complete the work that he has started in us, he stays the course, he will see it through to the finish. Paul writes "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
To Think About:
Have you asked God to show you what his plan, his will is for you?
Do you trust in God and his plan for you? Do you trust God to work out his plan or are you trying to make it happen in your time and your way?
What difference does knowing God has a plan for you make to the way you live?
Vicki
You may have read a previous post ("Looking Ahead") which I wrote at the end of last year. In it I shared that I want to spend time alone with God, seeking what he wants for me in 2014. I am still in the process of doing this and have just gone through last year's journal to see how God has been with me, leading and preparing me for what will come this year.
There was a verse I had written down in my journal last summer and God brought it to my attention again. It's Psalm 138:8 and David says "The Lord will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me." (NLT) There are some wonderful truths and promises for us in just this one verse. Let's take a few minutes to look at these:
1. God is a God who plans. I like to make plans, I plan out a weekly menu so I can plan a shopping list, I make plans to go out with a friend for coffee, I make plans as to how I will spend the weekend, I plan to visit my sister in the coming school break. Everyone makes plans, plans for a wedding, a holiday, a night out with friends, planning a dinner party etc. However, when it comes to our plans, there is no guarantee that what we have planned for will actually happen, we can't plan for all eventualities, sometimes circumstances are out of our control and disrupt our plans. Not so with God, he sees the end from the beginning, he knows the outcome, so when God plans for something it happens just as he planned. "But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken." Psalm 33:11 (NLT) When Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3 God already had planned that he would send his son, Jesus, as the Saviour of the world (see Genesis 3:15) and 2,000 years later Jesus is born. "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:10 (NLT) God has planned that we will one day live with him for eternity, we have that promise in John 14:2-3 "There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (NLT)
2. God has a plan for your life. Not only has God planned and promised a life with him for those who love him, he also has plans for your life, my life, and his plans for us are always for our good. "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT) Have you asked God what his will is for your life? Do you have a dream, a goal, a desire to do something that you just know God has planned for you?
3. God's plans cannot be thwarted. We have the promise that he will work out his plans for us. We can have confidence in God because he always does what he says he will do and he has the power to do it. We can trust him with our life. This is important because there will be days when the going is hard, when we feel that progress is slow, when circumstances are against us, and days when we question that it will ever work out. In those times we need to remember and rely on his promises to us. That's one of the reasons I keep a journal so that, particularly when it's tough, I can look back and remind myself of God's promises and his faithfulness.
4. God will make it happen. God will work it out, not me, and not you. This requires humility on our part as we hand over control of our life and submit to his plan. It also requires patience as we wait for his timing to work things out. When God reveals his will and plans for us it doesn't necessarily mean that it will happen immediately. Often he takes us through a time of preparation, to make us ready. We need to learn to say, in your time Lord, not in mine, in your way, not my way. We can hold onto the promise that he will work it out. As God works it out we are not expected to sit back and take it easy, no, we are to keep trusting him, keep our focus on him and keep in tune to his leading and direction and demonstrate a willing obedience.
Like David, we can have confidence that God will work out his plan because God is a faithful and loving God. Nothing and no-one can take that love away from us. In Romans 8:38-39 it says "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NLT) God is faithful to his word and because he loves us we can trust that his plan, his will for us is right and good. God created us and he will complete the work that he has started in us, he stays the course, he will see it through to the finish. Paul writes "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
To Think About:
Have you asked God to show you what his plan, his will is for you?
Do you trust in God and his plan for you? Do you trust God to work out his plan or are you trying to make it happen in your time and your way?
What difference does knowing God has a plan for you make to the way you live?
Vicki
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