"A man’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps."
Proverbs 16:9
Have your plans ever been changed on you and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it?
Many years ago I found myself a single mother and realized I would have to go to work. But I wasn't trained for anything. There was a government program at the time, for help in this very thing. I applied for training and they offered me a course in computer technology. But computers were just coming out and I thought they were offering me training in some kind of electronics and I knew that I was not suited for that at all. A terrible fear came over me.
I was a member of a prayer group at the time, so I asked the group to plead with God for me that he open another door - anything but this. I told the officials at the agency that this was not a good fit for me, and wasn't there something else I could train in? No, they said, this was the only door open at the time.
I was beside myself. I felt trapped with no way out. There was absolutely nothing I could do. So I went, dragging my feet behind me. And you can probably guess the rest of the story - it wasn't what I thought! During the second week of the course I knew this was "a God thing," because I loved every single thing about that course, and the computer field was going to establish my way for the rest of my life. Every job I held after that was in the computer department, and then ...the Lord led me into blogging ...and the rest is history. I now have three websites!
The point in this story was the inexpressible horror and fear that filled me when this story began. As I pleaded with God to open another door, I can imagine him sitting there watching me, chuckling and shaking his head. There's no way now that I can adequately thank him for not giving me my way and for closing every other door so that I would be forced into his will for the rest of my life.
If you belong to God, if you are a born-again believer, then NOTHING happens to you without a specific purpose. When you come to know the Lord and understand the unfathomable ways that he works in our lives, then the fight inside stops because you know he has prepared the way for you as a Father plans for his child - and he knows what he is doing. Often, if not usually, any change in your life may seem confusing or even fearful. How many times have we cried, "WHY, Lord?" How many times have we resisted his will? How many times have we doubted his good will toward us? And it's all because the right way isn't apparent to us; we don't know the future, but HE DOES.
If you are in a situation that confuses you, if you have no way out, my advice to you is to begin praising God for his faithfulness. Later, perhaps even MUCH later, you will look back and understand what the purpose for your situation was. And when you remember the resistance with which you tried to find a way out, you will praise God for not giving you your way, because his way is far, FAR better and will yield results for eternity.
Nothing with God is willy-nilly, there is a pre-planned and definite purpose in it. Don't resist it, but ask the Lord to help you come to the right response to it. There are people whom the Lord plans to bring into your life, and there are people who he wants to remove. To fulfill God's purpose in your life you need to be in the right place at the right time. Don't resist him when he chooses to change things so that can happen.
You can spend your time commiserating about your situation, or you can trust the Lord and praise him for his predetermined will for your life. The choice is yours. Make the right choice.
Suggested reading:
"Prison To Praise" by Merlin Carothers
"Power In Praise" by Merlin Carothers
These two books changed my life.
"Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob,
and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers...
...and Matthan begot Jacob,
and Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary,
of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ."
Matthew 1:2, 15, 16
Having been raised in a religion of laws and rituals, many things about the Scriptures were omitted, not taught or made clear to me. Years later, when reading the Bible for the first time, I was surprised to discover that Jesus was a Jew, his mother was Jewish, and he lived out his entire life in Israel, and furthermore, when he returns - he will return as a Jew ...to Israel.
When Jesus ascended to heaven, he ascended from the Mount of Olives facing Jerusalem, and an angel told his disciples that he will return in like manner:
"'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,
will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.'
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet..."
Acts 1:11-12
Spoken also in the Old Testament:
"And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
which faces Jerusalem on the east."
Zechariah 14:4
Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is presently a "Palestinian" town, and the Muslims love to say that Jesus was actually a "Palestinian." Nothing could be further from the truth. Islam is a system of lies from the get-go, which they acknowledge by the way, they don't try to hide it. They are actually taught to lie for the sake of Islam. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was no Islam. Bethlehem was a town in Israel, not "Palestine."
Incredibly, some people who do not know the Word of God (the Bible) accept the lie that Jesus was a "Palestinian." But his genealogy links him back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and on through King David. When Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David were alive, there were NO "Palestinians," as Islam did not come into the world till several centuries later.
Jesus was born a Jew, lived out his life as a Jew, died as a Jew, and will return as a Jew - not to Ramallah, not to Rome, not to Washington, but to Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem he will set up his Kingdom, and will rule and reign on the Throne of David forever, as was promised to his mother Mary:
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest,
and the Lord God will give him the Throne of his father David.
And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:31-33
Anyone who understands the agenda of Satan will understand his hatred of, and persecution of the Jews from time immemorial even unto today. Satan's hatred of the Jews has been behind all of his attempts to get rid of them. Way back when Moses was born, in Exodus chapter 1, Herod the king declared all the male Jewish babies under two years old must be killed, in a Satanic attempt to prevent Moses from growing up. Satan wanted to destroy an entire generation of Jewish babies. Later, recorded in Matthew chapter 2 in the account of the birth of Jesus Christ, again the king in those days days determined to destroy an entire generation of Jewish babies in the Satanic plot to prevent Jesus from growing up.
A most recent example of this was the Holocaust in which Satan succeeded in murdering six million of them. But out of that tragedy came the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and Satan's hatred of them and his efforts to destroy them has been vicious ever since. He knows that the generation that sees the restoration of Israel is the generation that will bring Satan's end, hence his onslaught against them and fierce determination to "drive Israel into the sea."
To anyone who understands this, it's so obvious why the forces of hell are making every effort to take over Jerusalem for Islam. But they not only will fail, they will be destroyed. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus most assuredly will come, and he will reign from Jerusalem forever. The Word of God is sure. No power of hell can stop it.
VIEW PIC:
Messiah And His Land
"Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.'
They said to him, 'We are going with you also.'
They went out and immediately got into the boat,
and that night they caught nothing."
John 21:3
These disciples of Jesus were fishermen. They knew the waters well, this was their area of expertise, but for all their labor ...they hadn't caught anything.
Are you walking in the area of the expertise God has prepared you for? Are you doing everything you know how to do, but without much success? Watch what brought them success on a huge scale:
Then Jesus came along:
vs 6:
"And he said to them,
'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.'
So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in
because of the multitude of fish."
God has placed within each believer all the gifts and talents the believer needs to be successful. But that success depends on the Lord. You can work to exhaustion just as these disciples did, and reap little for all your labor. They worked all night and caught nothing - but when the Lord came to them, he directed them to do what WILL succeed, and having done it, the results were so great that they could hardly contain it.
vs 6:
"So they cast, AND NOW they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish."
And that's the point. For anything to succeed, it has to be under the guidance and direction of the Lord.
"He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit,
for without me you can do nothing."
John 15:5
"...without me you can do nothing…"
The pride of man will motivate him to plug on and on, believing that the harder he works the more he'll produce. But he misses the key: "Without me you can do ...NOTHING."
If you want to succeed, bring your gifts and talents and present them to the Lord. Acknowledge the fact that your efforts will not produce much of enduring value, and surrender your work or ministry to his sovereign control. Place it all in his hands, no questions asked. Bring to him the thanksgiving due him for all he has invested in you, and pray for guidance. Having done that, be ready to change things if he so directs you, and as in the passage above, he often will.
“COMMIT your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be ESTABLISHED.”
Proverbs 16:3
The bottom line is that the Lord who put within you the gifts and talents you have - is the only one who can guide you into success in using them. Maintain an attitude of gratitude always, and ever be ready to follow his guidance in using it. And be careful to follow his directions.
He may tell you to throw your net on the other side of the boat.