Now, if you were at my church on Sunday, you heard the same sermon, and probably had your own reaction to it as I did. I wanted to share my experience because I think God was really trying to drive it home in me. As I have shared before, I have been struggling with a lot lately. Sometimes life throws you curves, and they can be large or like in my case, many small bumps in the road. I feel like I have a crick in my neck from all of the bumps. This is why this sermon, and ultimately God spoke to me this Sunday. Now, God not only speaks to me on Sunday, but he does any day really. As I have explained before, I have a control problem. I like to control my life so that I feel safer in it. In reality, I cannot control anything, but in the midst of trying to "play it safe," I drive myself and everyone else crazy. Also, in times like these, I am not fully leaning on God or trusting in God to intercede for me and work in my life....all for the good. I prayed, as I do most Sundays that God would speak through the Pastor and that He would teach me what I need to know. The following is some of the notes I took from the sermon:
1. Live your life wherever you are. Man, this hit me like a ton of bricks. I need to quit trying to plan every little detail in my life. 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 a hope and a future." I need to live right where I am, literally in the house that I have that I sometimes feel is too small, on the budget that we have right now--trying to pay off all that we owe and save enough to make a sufficient security fund and save for future children, and in the busy circumstances that I call my life--running from here to there and everywhere. I need to live and be content right here, right now. God will work and move when it is time and it is not always the way I want Him to or the way I think He should, but He is good and He knows the plans He has for me. His plans are always better than mine. Biblical hope is the confident expectation that God will bring good from everything. It is never God who creates discontent in our life.
2. God is in charge of all of your timelines and lifelines. He has a plan for you. God's plan is purposeful. it is not disasterous. God knows what he's doing with you and your life. Nothing wrecks your life more than fear. Hearing these words were so healing for me. "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
3. Trust God's Plan in the future for your life. "What do we do in the mean time?" What do I do in the mean time? I live life right now and: 1) Talk to God-pray! 2) Seek God-search Him out. Strive after Him.
In the mean time means living life right know before things change for the better or before the promise is realized.
4. Give God all of your life and future. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Deuteronomy 6:5
I need to live my life "in the mean time." Nothing builds my faith more than waiting and suffering. I will hold on to the truths that: He will restore me, and He will rebuild my life. Even in the small things, when life gets rough and everything seems to be going wrong, we can remember, "I know the plans I have for you."
