Saturday, December 7, 2013

Your Plans and His Promises

In our last blog we saw how patience and prayer can practically help us to look up with hope. Another choice is to…

Allow God’s promises to be your plan.
We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God’s purpose prevails. Proverbs 19:21
When we’re deeply hurt and feeling hopeless we can strategize and chase after any plan that seems good. We can do crazy things when we don’t look up to God in hope.

Instead, Allow God’s purposes to be your plan. Get on board with what God is doing.


After his Father’s death Solomon remembered God’s promise to his father.
The LORD promised my father David, ‘I will make your son king after you, and he will build a temple for worshiping me.’ Now, I plan to build that temple for worshiping the LORD my God.’ 1 Kings 5:5

Notice the order, the Lord promised and then Solomon planned. We see it differently. We plan and then look for a promise that fits into our plans. It doesn’t usually end well that way. Please don’t waste your time following the shallow and fickle conventional wisdom of our culture for answers.

It’s easy to think it’s too late for God’s plan for you and think you should have started earlier.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “To be 70 years young is far more hopeful than being 40 years old.” A lot of life is still in front of you. It’s not too late grab hold of God’s incredible plan for you. 

We find hope in God’s plan through His word.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4

Hear God’s word wherever you can and look for his promises. Hear and hope with others who desire to be on board with God’s plan as well. Read His word, talk and hope along with others for strength and direction.

As you make these choices you’ll develop a whole new refreshing way of looking at life’s problems that will enable you to be more patient with the things you can’t change. It will be worth it. It’s not too late to look up!