Thursday, August 23, 2007

God's Plan for My Life: Revealed!

It's on our minds all the time: we wonder whether God really has a plan for our lives, and then fret about trying to figure out what it might be.

So for convenience, I came up with some possibilities and ideas of my own.

There must be a schedule for every minute of my life:
4:08am- Wake up
4:40- Start coffee
5:00am- blog
8am thru 5pm- boat stuff
5pm thru 9:30pm- watch TV, check email, MySpace, Facebook
9:30pm bedtime

Don't I need a schedule or a timetable so I'll know exactly where to find time for God in my life? NO

I'm pretty sure this is God's Plan for my career & employment:
-God's Number One Priority is for me to be happy
-Dismiss any job or position that's clearly beneath my skills and abilities, to avoid compromising my witness
-God understands how the saying "Nothing personal, it's just business" applies at the office
-Powerful and financially successful people are adored & admired by others for their skills, and make great witnesses once they've reached the top. That's why it's OK to do whatever it takes to get there

Doesn't God's plan make room to pursue my personal goals, priorities and ambitions for achievement, prestige, fame and success? NO


God's Plan for My Finances
-God's goal is making me happy
-God loves me, and doesn't expect me to tithe when my finances get tight
-God will bail me out of any financial crisis that I create, if I just pray hard enough
-God's promised me I'll have all the money and financial security I'll ever need

Isn't God my private bank and heavenly ATM? NO

What About God's Plan for My Dating & Relationship Life?
-God wants me to be happy in every way
-Identify attractive girls; invite them to church and impress them
-Especially pursue non-believing women, witness and try to convert them
-Charming believing women away from dead-end relationships with non-believing men, then dropping and forgetting them to find another woman who needs saving, is effective witnessing and a rewarding and fruitful ministry ... so long as you're convinced you're only doing it for the woman's own good
-Invite women over for after-hours "quiet time" and reflection, especially when confident of your own ability to resist temptation
-Humbly (but quickly & firmly) terminate all involvement with a woman at the first sign of trouble, disappointment or premature commitment
-Sit by the phone; wait for Miss Perfect Christian's call: Heaven knows she can't wait to meet you and see her world get rocked upside down

When it comes to marriage, dating and relationships, God lets me be a free agent and negotiate my own terms because it's a sexual ball-game out there on an uneven playing field: NO WAY

Believing that God has a perfect plan for our lives doesn't mean his plan is obscure or secreted away at some far off destination in the future, and that soon as we've worked our way there, everything in life will suddenly CLICK! and start pouring divine meaning and purpose into our lives.

God's plan for our lives means loving him first and above all (including ourselves), honoring his word with our thoughts and our deeds, and surrendering our lives and our purpose completely, permanently and totally to him.

Total Surrender doesn't mean surrendering a little bit, or saying "Fine then, I'll surrender ... but I'm keeping this part tucked away for myself." Surrendering is not a give-and-take proposition nor is surrendering an offer of negotiation for better terms.

Surrender means admitting defeat in every way, and giving up on resisting and fighting God's purpose for our lives.

Too often when we feel confused and uncertain about whether God has a plan for our lives, our confusion is the result of trying to merge God's plans and purpose with our own. And who do ya think's gonna win that little battle every time?


Psalm 25:12
"Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him."

Psalm 25:14
The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

Job 28:28
"And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord- that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' "

John 9:31
"We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will."

Matthew 6:33
"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."



2 comments:

o.r.p. said...

Wow.
This might just be your best post ever. Seriously.
--b

joe hall said...

Thanks B yeah, I noticed the more I took myself out of the picture, the more God came into it.