Oct 5, 2011

For I Know the Plans I Have For You ...

I have been claiming Jeremiah 29:11 for some time now:

Jeremiah 29:11
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.

It has been a great source of reassurance, especially when I think of the decisions for my life that I've made over the past year or so, in my move from a secure full-time job to a part-time one. 


Yet, there has been some nagging thoughts about whether my actions have been in accordance with God's will. Somehow, there have been times when I felt that perhaps I was not following His directions for me, and not fulfilling the work that He had for me. However, claiming Jeremiah 29:11 has helped me to manage those fears.


I have just started reading Pastor Joel Osteen's latest book, 'Everyday a Friday'. Last night reading the book, at the end of chapter 4, something he wrote brought back some of those fears. He wrote that 


when you are in difficult times, remember that either God is doing a work in you, or He's using you to do a work in someone else.

I know that reading scripture and books related to faith and scripture should raise hope and not cause uncertainty. I brought my concerns to the Lord again. This morning, I told the Lord that He had to let me know in no uncertain terms that I was walking in His will, that the 'steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord' (Psalm 37:23).


I would like to say that our God is a good God and He is so faithful!


Turning over the page of perpetual calendar of Roy Lessin's Reflections from the Heart of God, I read these comforting words and beautiful reminder of God's love and grace for me:


God is leading you on a prepared pathway and will perfectly lead you into the plans He has for your life. Take each step without concern about where the path is taking you. He has gone ahead of you like a scout who has already checked out the trail. Nothing that is ahead will take Him by surprise.
Amen! There are many other verses who also let me know that God has me constantly on His mind and that He is leading me in the way I should go: 


I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron Isaiah 45:2 

Isaiah 48:17
      am the LORD your God, 
      Who teaches you to profit,
      Who leads you by the way you should go.


Amen, indeed!

No comments:

Post a Comment