Lately God's been really stretching my faith to fully trust Him in every aspect of my life. Slowly but surely, I'm learning that nothing I can plan or put together myself compares to what God can do if we take our hands off the wheel and let Him drive.
I'm a planner. I plan everything. I plan my outfits, my day, my summer. I planned to go to college, get my BS in Econ, get a good paying job and start rising up through the corporate world gaining experience. I planned to run my own business, be my own boss, marry my high school sweetheart, start a family, be a stay at home mom one day... I planned a lot. And I planned a life path that I thought would make me the absolute happiest.
Well, you see, He DID step in when things weren't going right. He did help me out, and here I am, 8 years later with my (practically useless) BS in Econ, engaged to marry the love of my life who I didn't even know back then, wearing shorts and flip flops for a living, helping my family run a nonprofit that helps the needy & less fortunate. Not at all what I had in mind. Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
And can I tell you something else?
I've never been so happy in my entire life.
Some of you are probably rolling your eyes because missions work is just NOT the path you feel called to - and I totally understand because I didn't feel called either. I had no desire to live such a life of simplicity, giving all of me to others and ultimately Jesus. It just wasn't in the plan. But what I found was the problem was MY plan - it wasn't God's. In fact, if I'm being real honest with myself, God wasn't even in the equation. Yeah, I went to church every week, I tithed sometimes, I read a devotion every once in a while, but God was not the author of my life - I was. I didn't seek Him for direction in my life, much less with my WHOLE heart. (Jer. 29:13) I was making my own plan, reaching my goals by my own methods and abilities, and boy did I fail miserably.
I don't just mean things didn't work out. I mean, I wrecked my whole life. At the end of my best laid plans, I found myself an empty shell of someone I didn't even know. And that's when I put the pencil down. I handed the planner over to God and I quit trying to write my own life story.
Because the truth is, it's not my life. 1 Corinthians 6:19b - 20a says "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." I was created (as we all are) to bring glory and honor to my Creator, God. Isaiah 43:7 - Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. So what makes me think that it makes any kind of sense, to take a life created by God for His own glory, and plan it out how I think is best, reaching goals I've set for my own satisfaction, with no thought to what God wants? Insanity.
Alright, let's reevaluate - Almighty God created humans to bring Him glory. We failed; He made a way to save us because He LOVED us. And now we want to waltz through life living it however we please and tack on church attendance here and there and call it "Christianity?" No way. If you're God's child, if you've honestly given your heart and life to Him, then you better know He's not going to let you live a life of WASTE. Because that's what the best laid plans often are. They're meaningless when you look at God's bigger picture. I mean, seriously, what good does a degree do you in heaven??? I'm not saying education isn't important, not at all, but in the context of eternity, if it's not in GOD'S plan for your life - it's useless.
Maybe you think I'm crazy right now, but maybe a few of you are following. Please know that whatever God has planned for you is SO MUCH GREATER than what you have the ability to plan. I promise. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Hear me on this: Don't trade God things in life for good things.
No matter how "good" some things seem, if you put them in the place of God's plan for your life, you'll fail every time.
So, take a look at your life goals and get real honest with yourself for a minute. Is your main goal in life to give glory to God? I mean, really, is it? Does your purpose revolve around telling others about the glory of your Savior? Because if you're really a child of God and that's not your goal - He'll wreck it. Or He'll let you wreck it yourself.
You see, now my only goal in life is to bring honor and glory to my Savior and to spend every blessed day on earth telling others about Him. Everything else is just a glorious bonus. He realigned my focus to Him. I no longer spend my days chasing worldly things (money, relationships, success, or status) but I live for a heavenly purpose, which gives me more fulfillment than any of those things ever did/could. I'm not saying I no longer have ambition or goals, but God changed the desires of my heart and made them HIS desires. I work hard towards His will and in turn He blesses me beyond anything I could think to imagine.
This is the life God has called us to. You might think "that's not for me," but if you call yourself a Christian, it is for you. Choosing not to believe the truth doesn't make it not true. So I'd encourage you, especially you recent grads: reevaluate your goals. Ask yourself whose goals you're really trying to reach and if they're not God's goals, then put down the good things for God things. Even if it's not the path you would've chosen for yourself, I promise you'll end up with more than you could've dreamed up on your own and the happiest you'll ever be. I know that to be true, because that's what God's plan has done for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment