I Know the Plans I Have for You


"Not my will, but thine, be done."  Luke 22:42

Jesus spoke these words knowing he was about to die.  I know Jesus lovingly did what He had to do in order to fulfill God's will, or plan, for His life, for all our lives.  His utter surrender was and is  beautiful. 

But here's what I have come to know on the subject of God's will:  God doesn't want my own will for my life laid begrudgingly on His altar.  Not at all. Instead, He wants me to learn to desire and actually love His will for my life, just as Jesus did.  Why?

Because therein lies our happiness and Spirit-rest.

In God's will for me is the joy and peace I am so desperately seeking for my troubled soul.  


Learning to pray that way takes practice. I have to pray---not only to accept His will for my life, but to know and to love Him more. In learning more about who God is and what His nature is, comes the certainty that He knows best and that He only wants the best for me.  It allows me to willingly desire His plan for me.

To be honest, I still have days when I feel confused as to why God has not answered the way I want, when it makes perfect sense to me to continue on the path I am on.  In reality, He is hearing my prayers...and I know the prayers that fall within His will for my life, He answers in the best and quickest way possible.  But when I am headed down a path on which only God can see the destination, and that destination is detrimental to me, He will go to great lengths to stop me and set me on the correct path. 

The best application of this love I can give is parenting my children.  My life experiences and mistakes have given me an insight to the error of making certain choices, taking certain paths.  So, with the motivation of great love for my children, if I see them heading down a destructive path, I instruct them to make a different choice, even though they may disagree.  More often than not, they often decide that their idea stills sounds better, convinced and determined they won't make the same mistakes I did.  And because life is about choices and free will, I let them go and ask God to take over.  And true to His nature, He gently brings their prodigal hearts back into alignment with His will.  But the pain and heartache that could have been prevented leaves its mark on their young souls.

So it is with me.  

Old as I am, I still stomp my foot sometimes at the path to which God is currently leading.  But instead of arguing so much now with my Maker, I am learning more and more to love Him for seeing ahead of me, around the blind curves, and putting up the necessary road blocks for me. 



I now know and lovingly accept that His will is beautiful and motivated by the Greatest Love known to our souls. 


"Turn me away from wanting any other plan but yours. The Lord will work out His plans for my life."  Psalm 119:37, 138:8

Comments

  1. AWESOME! Great illustration of parenting and God's parenting us. You're the best Mama I know :D...Thank you for this. Waiting on the Lord is SO hard sometimes, and I often forget to do it. Thank God for the "checks" He places into my spirit, and for the maturity-FINALLY-to heed them.
    God Bless You, April Modlin Brooks!

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