29 September 2011

God Has Plans for You

I haven't updated this in a while so this might be a tad short, but I need to express what the Lord has laid on my heart recently.

The Lord has plans for you. He has made plans to help you prosper and not to harm you.The Bible says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6). This means that the Lord can control your life if you let Him. He can show you where you need to go.

What's interesting is in this passage, the Greek words are much more expressive than the English translation could ever hope to be (as is usually the case). See it says "He shall make your paths straight." That's not just saying that he will guide you and help you move toward His direction, in the Greek, it means he will level everything in your way. He will literally make a clearing so prominent it would be almost impossible to miss it. He will literally come in and wipe everything out so that you can go in His direction and toward Him.

We think about the majesty of this and the wonder. And we simply praise God for the many things he has done in our lives, for good reason. We know "all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28). However, we must not forget that everything has two sides. As much as we pray and give thanks and song to the Lord, we must realize that Satan is more than readily lurking behind every corner.

See, as many plans as God has for us to prosper, Satan has tenfold to makes us fail. To drop us off of God's path for us. While God comes and levels what's in front of us, to make it clear what path is meant to be taken, Satan not only clears the immediate path, he entices toward his path. He coaxes us onto his side so that he can trap us in negative thoughts, in distrust, in an overwhelming depression that's like Hell to get out of.

Through all of this, God is watching us. He is with, He will help us. God doesn't want us to fail, but he allows it. How many times have you failed at a task? Each attempt to try again becomes more and more fervent at succeeding. Without failing, we don't learn what if feels like to lose sight of God. As humans, we need to be reminded that we will fail, and that we must try again. It is this free will, this undeniable loss that compels us to becomes increasingly more fervent toward God.

God doesn't want harm to come to us, and each day we stray from the path He has leveled for us, becomes a day we fall closer to Satan's harmful track. Robert Frost says, "I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference." I use this here, in this context, to say that we must understand that God's road for us may not necessarily be easy - there will be days full of trouble - but we must overcome these days and reach toward a dawn of possible impossibilities with the Lord.

For, God's plans aren't to harm, but to allow the chance to prosper. So, please, look for God's guidance in everyday situations. When they don't turn out the way you want, don't lose sight of what may be the bigger picture.



For all of life's problems, ask God.