Vision: Seeing Life God's WaySample

His Plan is Better Than Your Best

Because God is the one who created us, he knows the plan.

He already took into account the mistakes we would make, along with our poor choices and wrong turns. He planned our unique purpose, and then he placed inside us the exact right combination of gifts we would need to accomplish it.

When we try to do things our own way, that's when we get off track. You can run as fast as you can, but if you are not even on the right track, you won't get where you are supposed to go.

To go the right way, in God's timing, we have to trust what Jeremiah 29:11 says: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Do you believe it? I mean, really deep down in your heart, believe what God declared?

When we begin to trust that his plan is to prosper us and not harm us, we begin to take God at his word. We can't always get it right, but trust goes a long way toward the next piece of walking out his vision for our lives.

Submit to His Plan

Here's where things get a little tricky.

We want to follow God's plan. We have every intention of doing it. But then he asks us to do something uncomfortable or inconvenient. Purpose always costs us something.

So we face a dilemma: will we submit to God's plan or try to do things our way?

The wildest thing about walking out our calling is that he gives us a choice. We can choose his way or ours. The end result is not guaranteed to be the same, though.

Choosing our way means leaving things on the table: favor, blessing, taking new Kingdom territory, and fulfillment of purpose. If we don't go his way, we might leave an unfinished space in the Kingdom. This doesn't impact God--he can fill that void any other way he chooses.

It impacts us.

When we don't trust God or submit to his plan for our lives, we miss out. James 4:7 says Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. I don't know about you, but I would love protection from the enemy that submission to God's way for my life offers me.

God will lift us up when the time is right. We have to trust that he knows what he's doing, just like he knew what he was doing when he created us and the purpose he attached to our lives.

Questions: Do I trust that God has plans to prosper me and not harm me? If not, why not? Are there areas that I still need to submit to God?

Prayer: Holy Father, I confess the places I have not allowed you access. I submit them to you. Help me trust that you have the best plans for my life. Thank you for your protection from the enemy as I walk out your purpose for me, and thank you for inviting me to walk it out with you. In Jesus' name, amen.