I believe that God speaks to us in many different ways. He speaks in the storm and in the calm. He speaks in shouts and in whispers. Sometimes he gives us a green light. Sometimes he gives us yellow light, and sometimes he gives us a red light. We need only listen. I also think that God speaks to us with his peace. If you are earnestly seeking God's wisdom and will, then you better believe that if you are in the wrong place, God will not let you be at peace with it. Sometimes it's not that we are even living in sin, it's just that we aren't quite where God wants us to be. We aren't quite going in the direction that the Lord wants us to go. Picture a circle with two rings encompassing one another (kind of like a target). The inner circle is the center of God's will. The outer circle is not living in sin, but not quite being completely surrendered to God. And if you're outside the circle entirely, it's because you've chosen to live in sin, in constant disobedience to the Lord. This image helps me to understand this concept a little better.
Father let me recognize your gentle hand of correction. Let me see when it's your hand in my life. I believe that you delight in helping your children. I desire to be at the center of your will. I desire to be right where you created me to be.
I am a senior in college, with many decisions ahead of me. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with these decisions. I am overwhelmed with all of the possibilities for Stephen and I. Where will we go after we graduate? Where will he work? Will I go to seminary? Will I take online courses? When does the Lord want us to start a family? Does he want us to serve in the mission field for any length of time? Sheesh. I know, so much uncertainty. I thought I was sure, but now I feel a shift. I made a commitment to the Lord, and to myself, that I would always keep my plans and dreams on the table, so that the Lord could use me in whichever way he wants. The thing about telling God that is you have to be ready for him to change your dreams. To change your plans. To change your heart and create a shift in you, to stir up new passions and ideas.
Don't be afraid to let God change your plans. Don't be afraid to let him lead you into the unknown. He will make it known. He will show you things about himself and yourself. I am talking to myself too of course. Ha. I know that the Lord knows his plans for me. He made them before I even came into existence. In Jeremiah 29:11 God is telling all the exiles that he sent from Jerusalem into Babylon that he will fulfill his promise to them and will bring them back to Jerusalem. That's when he says,
"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
A lot of people are familiar with this verse and they quote it a lot but the verses that follow are pretty awesome too.
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you..."
When we seek the Lord with all our heart, we will find Him. And in the context of our future and our plans, our hopes and our dreams, He is there to be found.
Another thing. If you feel the Lord calling to do something or to go somewhere know this: He will provide a way. He will equip you, and most likely he already has been equipping you. He likes to connect dots that we never really saw as connecting. But He sees them. He sees how they connect. You never know how He's going to use what you know to serve Him.
There's freedom in letting go. God is breaking off fear of the future. God has something good in store for our lives. Let's believe it!
Sometimes though, we have to wait. We have to wait patiently for the Lord to show us things. Of course, we want God to do things in our own timing, but that is just not how it works. So it's silly for us to get upset at Him when he doesn't answer when we want and how we want Him to. In that passage in Jeremiah 29, vs. 10 says that the people have to wait 70 years for God to fulfill his promise to them. 70 years! I think most of us in today's world would give up after 70 hours. That is convicting. No matter how long the Lord wants us to wait, we must continue to seek Him with all of our heart. We must continually seek Him. If we ask Him to reveal himself to us, He will. I know because I've been there. I've felt so far away from God, and I've felt that God was so far away from me. I've asked him to reveal himself to me, and He did. But He didn't do it right away. So don't be discouraged in the waiting. Just keep seeking.
Bethany Dillon has this song that she wrote and it goes like this... "You can do more in my waiting and I can do in my doing." We have to learn how to let the Lord do more in our waiting than we can do in our doing. Even if it goes against our nature.
So if you feel God putting something on your heart, seek that out. See what He's trying to do in your life. Allow him to create shifts in your thinking and in your passions. Don't fear the future, for the Lord knows the plans that He has for you. And it's a good plan. Listen to His voice. Allow Him to speak to you in different ways. Listen.
Lord, give us ears to hear and a heart unafraid of the unknown. Amen.
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