I
know most of you reading this post have gone through a number of times when you
got something planned out so well- like how you’re gonna finish school, join
that great college and end up in career with a fat paycheck; others it may be you’ve
been dating that woman/man for so many years, in fact both families know each
other and everyone is expecting y’all to get married - and GOD comes right in
the middle all your plans and shuts that door. And you are left there with a
broken relationship/engagement or you went to a job interview for the job of
your dreams and your application got declined- and you got disappointed, confused and mostly you are mad at God because you felt
like HE let you down.
On
so many occasions I have felt the same way, it seemed like every plan I made
got turned upside down and if we are not careful the enemy (our adversary) will
fill your mind with all kinds of lies like God’s forgotten about you, He’s not
for you – or the enemy may bring up past sins and convince you that its God’s
way of punishing you.
One
particular time I was so frustrated because absolutely nothing was going
according to any of my plans- and in the middle of it I heard God gently say, “If I gave you everything you asked for in
prayer, you would the most miserable person.. just trust me when I say no! ’’ This
made me take several seats and at that moment that I realized how a kinda
trusted in God and the other half me relied on my own understanding. There’s
nothing wrong with making plans, and asking God to give us our secret petitions
of the heart and to bring to pass our dreams and desires – however, we need to
be open enough to tell God.. I would really like for you to give me this
, but ultimately let Your will be done concerning this situation. Have Your
way, Lord.
Sometimes
without realizing it, we make our plans and dreams and goals like our idols ..if
God don’t bring me a man by 28 or 30 then am gonna assist God and find myself a
man; if God don’t give me that job or that promotion am going to step on
everyone’s toes and flirt around with all the male bosses until I get my way.
Here’s
the test we all have to pass: Will we still love God and worship Him when
things don’t go as planned? Will we still trust Him when everyone else seems to
be getting their breakthrough and everyone seems to be getting ahead? Will
you still continue to honor God with your body when you are single and 35 years
and you had a deadline to get married by 28? Will you still continue to be
faithful in job and work as unto the Lord with a low pay when all your peers
and friends seem to be getting the job of their dreams, living in great
apartments and travelling to great destinations.
It’s
time for us to give to GOD all our plans, our desires and even those secret
petitions that no one knows about – and really trust Him with our whole heart
and lean not on our own understanding. Let’s allow God to lead us into what HE
knows is best for our lives and not by our own limited reasoning. Ephesians
1:11 says that God chose us in advance and He makes
everything work out according to His plan.
Dying
to self at times means dying to our plans, dying to some desires that are good
but are not God, it means laying down our dreams and ambitions and deadlines
and telling God to have His way in
your life. It means getting yourself out of God’s way and letting Him have full
control over your life. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have any goals or
aspirations of your own but it means not allowing your plans to have you and to
become an idol; it means you come to a place of rest where you trust God and
say even if things don’t turn out the way I expected them to, I trust that God
has something bigger and better for me.
In
the meantime, shake off the discouragement and the weariness and encourage yourself
with this one thing: 1 John 5 :14-15 And we are
sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in
line with his will. And if we really know he is
listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that
he will answer us. (TLB Version)
God
hears you when you pray and He loves you insanely.. all He wants from you is to
trust Him even when things don’t go your way.
Remember that no matter how bad it looks like, GOD IS FOR YOU!!
Stay encouraged and fight the good fight of faith.
So much love,
Hilda
.
