The last few days I seem to be emphasizing the importance of knowing God’s plan. I haven’t intentionally set out to make that my theme but when the words begin to roll out of my heart and on to the screen they share the common thread of God’s plan for us.
We’ve almost completed the first half of 2019. I know we have one more month until we are really half way through but it’s about this time that folks begin to readjust their schedules and make new plans. School is coming to an end, graduation day has come, the New Year’s resolutions we made are almost forgotten and we begin to plan for summer vacations.
It’s important that we keep God in the planning process.
God has designed us to have a purpose, a plan, a destiny that is so much greater than anything we can imagine! He sees in us a Christ-like quality and desires to use His power to accomplish great things. If we’re living a life that is comfortable to us and one in which “We” can accomplish what we set out to do, we’re settling for less than what God wants to do through us.
“With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of.” Ephesians 3:20 ERV
Let me encourage you to dream bigger and trust God to direct you to impact your world with what He’s calling you to do – God will use you where you are if you trust Him. Our lives have a design and calling to do great things. We have direction; our purpose is greater than the lyrics from Peggy Lee’s song “Is that all there is?
“The plans of the mind and orderly thinking belong to man, but from the Lord comes the [wise] answer of the tongue. 2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart). 3 Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” Proverbs 16:1-3 AMP
Yesterday I heard a pastor talk about verse three above. (It’s one of my favorite verses) He said that the original intention of the verse meant to “roll off a load”. The example he used was one of a camel who was carrying a heavy burden. The way to get the pack off a camel is for it to get down on its knees and then roll to the side so the burden can be removed.
Making plans without the Lord’s guidance can be a heavy load, one we need to roll off and let Him carry. When we trust Him, He will carry the burden and show us how to succeed. Our lives will take on meaning, direction, purpose and there will be no need to ask “is that all there is” because life will be full and abundant.
“A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good.” John 10:10 ERV