What if this morning when I woke I got to plan the rest of my life? How do you think I would plan it? Think I would have any struggles in there? Any lay offs? Any tears, losses, or unknowns? Of course not. I would be rich. I would have my dream home. I would have my dream job. My husband would have that new truck he wants. I would have a new car for my son, and me, well, I would have that new white, Mercedes sitting in my drive way. My children would all be happy, no worries in the world. We would all go to church together. Have dinner each Sunday together. My mother would have perfect vision, perfect health and do all the things she dreams of. All of my wants and needs would be met just when I wanted. Vacation? Well, we would travel all over the world. No one I know would be sick, have an accident or feel hurt of any kind. Does that sound like your plans? If we could plan our lives we would plan each and every moment as perfect as we could. We would, wouldn't we?Our plans do not contain loss of any kind. We would not throw in there cancer. We would leave out anything to cause hurt. But, we do not get to plan our lives, praise God. If I got to plan my life just the way I wanted it, would there be any room for Him? If I got to plan my life, it sadly might look pretty darn selfish. Isn't that pretty much what our plans are, selfish? We want things our way, and when we want them.
But see, Jesus knows what we need and what is going to take in our lives to get us to where we are going. He knows the hard times are going to call for strength. He knows those low times are going to call for humbleness. Isn't it through all those trials that we really find out who we are? It is through those struggles we find out we can't do it on our own, but we need the Lord to lift us up, set us on our feet and be the light before us.
But just how perfect would my life be by my planning it? Think there would be any sin in it? Selfishness is a sin. Wanting everything my way is not thinking of others. And doesn't Jesus know more about our needs than anyone?
Just think about the Garden of Eden. Perfection! Simple perfection. Everything they needed was right before them. Look where they lived, beauty everywhere. Everything in their sight was perfect. They were completely perfect, but what they had wasn't good enough. They wanted more. Isn't that just about the truth? No matter what we have, we always seem to want more? More for Me! Adam and Eve lived in perfection with God. Their plans, theirs, not God's messed everything up. No more perfection, but sin, sadness, and searching for forever more. You would think we could learn from them. You would think at some point we would figure out that our plans are not God's plans for our lives, but if we seek Him, really seek His face, we will find perfection in HIS plans.
God can change anything to bring glory to Him. He wants us to be heaven bound, with Him in our sights. The problem is, we turn away from Him and try to plan it all alone. We see right now, but He sees the whole picture. He sees far ahead in the distance where we cannot see. Even in the pain that hits daily for some, God is there. Although we don't understand each plan He has, I believe one day it will all come together for us. It may be on the other side of heaven, but I think our eyes will be open to all God did in us, through us, even in our biggest doubts. In our least amount of faith, He can do great and mighty things.
I want to follow His plan. I want Him to have control over my calender. Each day I want Him to shine through, and each morning I want to begin with Him, ending in His presence also. He knows what tomorrow will bring and just where I need to be. He shows us this when it's raining out. Even through through the rain, on the other side there is that bright rainbow. Shining through with promise. Our Christian lives are not promised to be perfect. Our lives here should only make us desire heaven that much more. Just think our greatest joy here will be nothing in comparison to our joy in heaven.
All those things that I think will bring me happiness might just do that for a minute. But God knows what will bring joy to last forever. It isn't in those material things, and all those things that we find life. We find life in Jesus Christ and Him alone. People, places, things, they will all come and go, but Jesus is here to stay. He is our past, our present and our future.
Now, would all my plans be selfish just for me? No, I have a whole list of things I wish I could bring to others, but Jesus doesn't need my life to be perfect for that. He will shine forth through the darkest of times. He will show Himself to others through my life however hard it may be or easy the road at the moment if I totally focused on Him.
Perfection is Christ Jesus and nothing else. Nothing can come close to the perfection we can find in Him. If He sees yesterday, today and tomorrow I want Him guiding my life. If I must go through trials and bumps in the road to get to where He wants me, I am willing to go. I have to be to follow Him all the way. He needs willing hearts who are willing to be open vessels for Him, and that includes hard times and things we don't understand. But through hope, faith and love we can follow Him and have lives we never imagined.
Before you begin to plan that perfect filled life, leave room for God's plan. Leave room for mistakes and failure. Leave room for grace and mercy. Leave room for God to show you the way. If we have our eyes on Him, His dreams will be our dreams. He will open doors and close those we are not to walk through. When we leave it up to Him that is the greatest gift we could give Him besides our hearts. When we trust Him we are showing our faith and love in great ways. And it will be through that faith and love that He brings us out of ourselves and into Him.
Trials will come, you can bet your bottom dollar. Some we will be prepared for and others not. But we can count on God to have a plan and purpose. He wants the best for us. It is when we follow Him that we will find it and if I know God at all, it will be in the most unexpected places.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen."
