Hey guys! Sorry, this might be the LATEST post everrrrrr. However, I had my exams this week. Every time I tried to sit down and write this post, God was like, not now, go study, lazy girl. (God is dealing with me on procrastination... Womp) But, here it is!!
So we are all at that stage in our lives where we must make big decisions about our futures. Ahhhh I’m about to graduate college!!!
I know we have pressure coming from everywhere about picking the right career, picking the right husband/wife, picking the right laundry detergent, etc. How in THE world are we supposed to make sure we are going the right way (especially with the laundry detergent thing... the wrong one can make you itch.)
I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to not know what you want to do. Especially if people are constantly telling you what you should do. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, maybe a businesswoman, maybe a lawyer, maybe a model, actress, peace corps activist, G.I. Joe, spice girl... something. It wasn’t until I truly gave up on trying to figure it out that God showed me the plans HE had for me.
Honestly, being in a position where you don’t know what you want to do is one of the best places to be. In this place, you know that you need to seek God, because you are desperate for some answers! This is great! However, most of the time, we make plans for ourselves, then just ask God to bless them... then blame him if things don’t go right.
In one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11, God talks about the plans he has for us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future... The world NEVER talks about God’s plans.
The world tells us to find what we love then follow it or find something that we consider fun then make it a career. It rarely (if ever) tells us to ask God to pick our career for us . In fact, if you were to tell someone that God has led you to where you are because he told you that this was the right path, many people would look at you crazy (How sad, those people really believe that God is quiet and doesn’t talk to people).
How many of us truly surrender and allow God to do what he wants with us? How many of us realize that plans that are not God’s plans often fail or turn out to be terrible mistakes? We don’t realize this because the world has tricked us into having the “self-made man/woman” mentality.
In Matthew 10:39, Jesus actually says ‘Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’
Alright Jesus, that’s a little confusing there. Well what Jesus means here is that if you go do life the way YOU want to, all that you have gained and all that you have accomplished will be gone in the end (If you even accomplish anything!!) ... And won’t even matter, really. Even worse, I really feel like you won’t feel like you are living life at all. This is the reason why we have so many people who aren’t satisfied... and they just attribute it to life not being satisfying until you find something new, do something “great”, etc, etc. You look at their life and it is just like they are miserable for no apparent reason. They are rich, famous, have ALL the friends and family in the world... But they are still miserable.
Some people chase money. They choose their profession because they know it will make them comfortable for a very long time. This is silly! They could very easily get their dream job, make their first check, and die while walking to their car. (Not to be morbid or anything, but it’s true and it happened in the Bible too!).
In Luke 12:16-21, a man yielded many crops. It was so much that he didn’t have enough to store it all. He PLANNED to tear down his barn and build bigger ones to store up all his food, then chill for the rest of his life and take it easy.
God called him a FOOL! He was going to die that very night! He planned things out for himself and didn’t include God in ANY of his plans... and ended up not being rich toward God. (You know if the God of the universe, who created everything that existed ever, calls you fool... you must be a fool for real)
The modern equivalent is the guy who ends up being CEO of a Fortune 500 company and decides to put all his money in a savings account, plans to buy an island, plans a trip to Vegas with his boys, buys Angelina Jolie a huge green diamond, puts money away for retirement.... All without consulting the God of this universe... God says FOOL, you can literally drop dead for no apparent reason, and you really have NOTHING, because you didn’t know me.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:19 not to store up your treasure here on earth where moth and rats (vermin) destroy... but to store up your treasure in heaven, where it really matters. This involves truly LIVING for God.
What’s missing is God-given purpose! We gave our LIVES to Christ... Why are we still fighting to live it our way? This is not an expression, its real! Our lives belong to God, HE has plans for them, plans that he knows and he has set in place before time began.
You “lose your life” to Jesus and you will find your purpose, you will find satisfaction, you will find peace. He will straighten your paths (Proverbs 3:6).
I don’t even like saying you should “bring your plans to God and allow him to bless them.” (However, I leave open the idea that God could have put those plans in your heart) I truly believe that you should ask God what HIS plans for you are. He has them for a reason! God didn’t say “I know the plans YOU have for YOUR OWN life....” His ways are HIGHER than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), and I PROMISE any plan that God has for you is much greater, much bigger, much more fulfilling than anything that you could have ever thought of yourself.
Many people in the Bible had their original plans ALL jacked up...
- Moses really didn’t plan to go back to Egypt and free ALL of his people... He actually resisted when God told him his divine plans because he had a speech impediment...
- Abraham wasn’t really planning to have kids because he was super old... but he did.. Now he is called the father of all believers. His descendants are like the sand on the beaches... all of the beaches.
- Paul wasn’t planning to be one of the greatest apostles... For goodness sake, he was killing off Christians like it was a game. But who wrote all those wonderful books?? Go Paul! Go God!
- Ruth wasn’t planning to meet her second husband and be in the lineage of Jesus, the Son of God... But she was... Because God’s plans are poppin, duh.
- David surely wasn’t planning to go kill off a giant while he was being an awesome shepherd... Then become king of Israel... God’s chosen people...
- I am sure none of the apostles planned to change the world... and meet the Son of God... and be friends with him... and eat with him... and have him wash their feet.... and be able to perform miracles, signs, and wonders....
All of these people turned out great! God had plans that were bigger than they could have even imagined!! (Ephesians 3:20)
Many times, we freak out because life doesn’t seem to be going “according to plan”... But whose plan are we really talking about? We already talked about how God works EVERYTHING out for the good of those who love him... So he knew you would make mistakes and mess up every now and then... and he made it fit into his plan for you!
This is the part where our faith truly is tested... Trusting in the plan that we didn’t have ANYTHING to do with... the plan that we cannot see, most of the time.
So before you get discouraged about not knowing what you want to do, or about the fact that everything you plan isn’t going right, realize that it might be God telling you to remember who is REALLY in charge. You can plan all you want, you can do all you want to get where you plan to go, but really, if those things aren’t in line with God’s plans things can go sour really fast. God might be trying to get you back on track to where HE wants you to go and it might seem like NOTHING is going right.
So I encourage you all...
- Ask God what HE wants to do with you, where HE wants you to go. If you are feeling like God is being too demanding and you don’t understand why he doesn’t just bless your plans, remember that the big picture, the thing that matters is going to heaven. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. So, if you are going to be in a position where you will not be bringing people into his kingdom (Or actually you will be turning people away), it doesn’t matter and God probably won't put you there. This doesn’t mean everyone is a minister, it means that wherever you are, whatever you do, there is someone that needs to hear about or experience the Love of God. This may be through your life or this may be through the actual work that you do. You can be an engineer... and EVERYONE sees the glory of God in all the work you do. You might get all of your coworkers saved when working as a nurse, because they want the peace and joy that you have and you show in your work. You never know, you might be called to be a housewife and teach your children (and the other moms that are active in PTO) about God’s love and his grace. God knows what he is doing by putting you where you are.
- If you are already established where you are, then ASK God about it. Ask God if this is the place he wants you to be. You might be really comfortable where you are... but honestly, you would rather be where God wants you to be than anywhere else. Show God that he is still Lord over your life by telling him that you will go WHEREVER he takes you. Then TRUST HIM!!!
- If you do have plans, it isn’t wrong to ask God about them. Ask him if they are in line with his plans. It is completely possible for God to have placed those desires in your heart. If he says that they are of him, then ask him to bless them and remember to ask him about the other plans he has for you. Remember that we are partners with God (He is in us just as we are in him- John 14:11). If the plans are not of him, ask him what HIS plans are... and trust him in knowing that they are the best things for you.
- If things are super hard where you are, even though you feel that God has led you there... don’t automatically assume that you are not in the right place. I didn’t say that it would be easy being in the plans of God... I said you would be satisfied. If you are really concerned though, ask God about it. Ask him to give you more confirmation about where you need to be... then continue to lean on him for strength and for wisdom in EVERY SITUATION he places you in.
So loves, trust in God’s plan. Ask for God’s plan to be revealed to you, then be aware of God telling you his plans. He truly loves you and wants to show his glory and power through your life!! Isn’t that cool? People will be able to look at your life and see how God is working in it... but only if you allow him to have control. Include God in your decision making! Allow him to make decisions for you, you know he will never steer you wrong.
I love you guys!
See you soon,
Lise, A4C
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