GOD'S PLANS????

 

"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 a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I got to listen to one of my colleagues last week as we had lunch as she shared with us about a few people she knows who would rather give sexual favors to get jobs than wait for one that they get the right way. I have a feeling a good number of people seated reading this article would probably do the same thing. 

I had an interesting experience last year when God told me to quit my job... yes, quit my job!!! One of the things I really battled with was what did He want me to do next. I prayed so hard, asked Him over and over again, what am I to do after that??? But no answer came, the only thing God kept repeating was that He was asking me to quit my job. 

So, very reluctantly, very unsure of what next, like running straight into a brick wall... I quit my job.

One of the biggest mistakes I made was to try and fit God into my plans, trying to direct Him to what I thought was the direction I would should have been taking. I pursued jobs I thought would fit who I am, make more money than where I was before. It just felt like I knew what God wanted for me instead of listening to what He was telling me. 

Many times we are all like me... Trying to guide God into what we want for ourselves yet we do not ask God what He wants from us; where we should go, what we should do, who we should be in a relationship with...

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

And many times we forget this simple truth... God knew exactly what He had planned for us way before we came into this world. Nothing that happens in our lives ever comes as a surprise to Him. In my anxiety to change my situation, I forgot this and began to rely on my on wisdom, or lack there of.

And just last week I sat in a restaurant and for a moment, I have to admit, I forgot it again. I became so focused on a very big part of my future and all that went through me was worry, fear, anxiety... I went back to that point of thinking of how I was going to achieve it all in my limited capabilities and I forgot about the God who knows all this about me, I forgot about the guy who says He knows the number of hairs on my head.

Have you ever been there, beginning to look at your abilities... rather your inabilities, and letting them cloud your mind? Ever ask yourself why those times come into our lives?

Here's one thing that I have learned through it all, God reminds me that I am weak but He is strong. How can I experience His strength if I do not realize I am weak? How can I see Him take control of all my situations without getting stuck and letting Him take control? How do I experience comfort in Him without experiencing discomfort in the situations around me?

"Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28

God is assuring us today that when we can find our way back to Him, he takes us in our situations, in our worries, in our pain, in our joblessness... in all of that, and He gives us rest.

So back to my jobless period of 2015... there I was, trying to make things happen away from God. When I did realize I was trying to make things happen without finding God first, I changed and started asking where He wants me to go. One more thing He taught me was that I am not the source of my daily bread.You see, that big worry when He directed me to leave my job, that issue of how I was going to earn my living became a reality. But every day He made it clear to me that it is He who sustains me.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26

This happens to be one of my favorite verses, yet so many times I forget that it is He who sustains me, not the monthly salary that I get. So being away from a job reminded me to rely on Him and to turn away from my worry. And last year I worried, I depleted every coin in my savings... but not a single day passed with me feeling like I was out, He took care of me one day at a time... and that last question became a reality, I heard Him repeat it to me over and over again... "Grey, are you not much more valuable to Me than the birds of the air?"

I remember one of the other significant lessons He taught me was that I got the feeling of being in need. Have you ever been there... at the place where you have nothing and you seriously want to move out of it? Need a job? Need success in your examinations? Need a Godly relationship? What is it that you are in need of? what is it that you need and you are seeking God for... or at times not going to God about it. Here's what the word of God says...

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to be in plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:12

And He just told me that I need to find peace in Him, I need to be satisfied in Him... whether I have a job, whether I am jobless, whether I am full or hungry or dating or single. It just does not matter the situation...I need to be content in Him.

I thank God because, out of Him taking time to get me away from my comfort; He took 6 months to remind me to send my cares to Him and find rest in Him, to always find my comfort and contentment in Him, that I am of greater worth than the birds or the air.

He loves you and me so much!!

The most significant lesson was this, the confidence of going to Him in prayer;

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Are you at a point of need? With all the confidence you can master, go to Him in prayer, and you will receive mercy and find grace.

I write this having completed 6 months in 2015 learning from God in my time of want and need; learning that He planned it all out for me in advance, having found out where He wants me to go, what he wants me to do, and seeing Him place me exactly there. I know, I am confident that even you can find that place, by just finding Him first and He will place you exactly there.

Prayer
Thank you Lord for the lessons we learn through our times of need, want, worry and despair. Forgives for when we forget you at those times and we focus on our own weaknesses and forget your almighty strength. May your word remain our foundation that we may seek you and find ourselves in your will. Amen