Weather report from heaven: Sunny and bright with an abundance of light, and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” – Ephesians 3:20
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
Insight: One of the things I think all Christians struggle with is bringing our plans before the Lord and then asking Him to bless them, as if He is some type of cosmic genie. I know early in my faith walk, I would read scripture, be clear on its meaning, and then try to interject my own personal agenda into the implementation phase of the project. Oh, how many hours I spent trying to conjure up ideas for God to bless. Mind you, these weren’t bad ideas that were diametrically opposed to scripture, but they had a decidedly “Doug” spin on them which would make obedience more to my liking. Have you ever tried this? The antidote for this is to ask ourselves a simple yet very profound question: Are the plans we are pursuing our plans or His plans?
I have finally begun to realize that God’s plans are always so much better than my plans, and that the best course of action is to continually pray for the surrendering of my will over to His will. This leads not only to better alignment in my walk with the Lord, but it also means more eternal impact for His Kingdom purposes. I don’t want to spend my time foolishly chasing my plans, when His plans will lead to immeasurably more satisfaction and productivity. Besides, surrendering our life to His plans will bring greater peace and fulfillment than anything we could ever dream up on our own. You see, we all have been gifted with unique skills that combined with hard work can lead to successful outcomes. But it is much better to align our input with God’s intended output up front so as not to waste precious time and energy.
This may seem weird at times, and sometimes God may simply ask you to abide in Him, and put all else aside, while He moves all the proper chess pieces into place. But these periods of waiting will not be wasted as long as we remember to draw closer to Him during the wait and we don’t try to get out in front of His perfect timing. I have found a simple way to achieve this is to literally pray for Him to alert me in prayer to any wasted efforts on my part that don’t align with His plans. On numerous occasions, I have been redirected to more Godly pursuits, many times requiring deeper faith and more time in His presence until clarity and vision was unleashed. It is never easy, but it is always worthwhile to wait on the Lord. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us the reason: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.“
Prayer: Father God, thank you that your plans are so much greater than our plans. I am tired of trying to have you bless my plans, instead help me to pray, wait and learn to listen for your plan. I pray this in Jesus’ mighty name and power. Amen!
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