Monday, March 25, 2013

When God's Plans Are Not Ours...


                                                      

               Proverbs 16:1 "We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer."



When we think of being in the Lord's will, we usually think of His plan for our lives. We consider that before  we were even born, God had our lives mapped out. He decided how we were going to look, if we would graduate from high school, if we were going to go on to college and pursue a degree, and He even decided who we would marry and how many children we would have. When we think of the depth of His love and His careful planning for our lives, we realize just how wonderful it is to have a great God Who is in charge of our earthly lives. Proverbs 16:3: "Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed". 

There is no need to worry, God knows our every thought, our every desire, our every need. And He meets every one of them. Whether He meets them the way that we want Him to, is not guaranteed. But since He knows what the "road" looks like up ahead, we need to trust His "road map" for our lives. Proverbs 16:9 "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. Whatever He has planned for us, we can be sure that He is in complete control of whatever happens.

Psalm 139:7-12:

"(7)I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from Your presence! 
(8) If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there. 
(9) If I ride the wings of the morning,
 if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 
(10) even there Your hand will guide me,
and Your strength will support me. 
(11) I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night-- 
(12) but even in darkness I cannot hide from You.
To You the night shines as bright as day. 
Darkness and light are the same to You."


We can never get away from His love, His power, His might. His grace is constant, His words never lie. We have nothing to fear and nothing to hide from where our futures are concerned. There is nothing up ahead that is too great to face with the Shepherd walking by our side. An example I often like to use, is when we see that hill and don't know what is on the other side. Between every two hills is a valley; a dip or trial period. When it seems that we get over one problem (the hill), we have nothing but a valley to walk through. Sometimes, it's a small valley--like losing a test; but sometimes, it's a large space between the two hills--such as the loss of a loved one. And getting from point A to point B is enough of a challenge to make us wonder where God is. Where did He go and why did He just leave us walking this rocky path alone?

But He's always there. Just as you can't see the wind, you know it's there. There are billions of stars never seen by man; but we know they're out there. We may have never seen our hearts or our brains; but we know we have them. If the wind, stars, hearts, and brains have never been seen, and yet we believe they are all there, why is it so hard to believe that the Creator of these things does not exist when He Himself is not visible to us?

No matter how well we think we have our futures planned out, it's God who decides the outcome. Proverbs 16:33 "We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall."

God is in control; whether we are aware of His guiding hand and presence or not. What we can know for certain about the future, is that whatever outcomes He has planned ahead, He planned them for our own good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Don't be discouraged, my friend. What we can't see, God sees. And what we don't know, He knew even before the creation of the world.

"Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." ~Isaiah 40:26


Blessings on your walk with our Lord and Savior this day,
Anna

Monday, March 18, 2013

Devotional


For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 



I have not fallen off the face of the earth, even if I haven't posted anything for over a month now. But I'm now a college sophomore (as of March 7th), so that may tell you something about where I've been.

A "regular" post will be coming eventually, but I will share with you a devotional from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, for now. I have been reading through this book semi-regularly over the past several months, and it has been incredible how applicable these readings have been. I pray this one will encourage you as well.

Have You Felt the Hurt of the Lord? (March 2nd)

"Jesus said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me?" John 21:17

     Have you felt the hurt of the Lord to the uncovered quick, the place where the real sensitiveness of your life is lodged? The devil never hurts there, neither sin nor human affection hurts there, nothing goes through to that place but the word of God. "Peter was grieved because Jesus said unto him the third time...." He was awakening to the fact that in the real true centre of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus, and he began to see what the patient questioning meant. There was not the slightest strand of delusion left in Peter's mind, he never could be deluded again. There was no room for passionate utterance, no room for exhilaration or sentiment. It was a revelation to him to realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he said--"Lord, Thou knowest all things." Peter began to see how much he did love Jesus; but he did not say--"Look at this or that to confirm it." Peter was beginning to discover to himself how much he did love the Lord, that there was no one in heaven above or upon earth beneath beside Jesus Christ; but he did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord came. The Lord's questions always reveal me to myself. 
     The patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the right time. Rarely, but probably once, He will get us into a corner where He will hurt us with His undeviating questions, and we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than any profession can ever show. 



God bless you all!

In Christ,
Kaleigh