Have Your Plans Been Changed On You?

"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 to me - 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. 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. And 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 outside of his will for you, and 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 This book changed my life.