Have you ever made plans in life and things not turn out the way you think they should have? Silly question, I know. We've all had this experience. Sometimes the things we plan for our lives are huge desires that we think would make everything just perfect. So why do these plans so often fail? Doesn't God tell us, "Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." (Ps. 37:4 NAS)?? If I had a dollar for every time MY DESIRES were NOT given to me!!
So WHY doesn't God give us all of our desires? Based on the above verse, there is a prerequisite to God giving us the desires of our hearts: "DELIGHT yourself in the LORD." How many times can you say that you have truly DELIGHTED in God?? I can't count on one hand for myself. That is, most of the time I delight in things OTHER than GOD all the while wondering why I haven't been given my heart's desires. Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that this verse contains a magical formula where all you have to do is "delight" in God and BAM! you've got a new car or a new job! The Apostle John said that if we ask according to His will, He hears us(1 Jn 5:14) But how do we know His will? Oh boy, I may have opened a can of worms here. Let me just say that YES, God has a plan. But it is not our job to KNOW every single detail of it. He has revealed much to us IN THE SCRIPTURES. But he has not made known to most of us what will happen tomorrow or next week in our particular situations. Moses told us in Deuteronomy 29:29 , "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever..." (NAS). Bottom line: What God has clearly revealed to us (i.e. THE BIBLE) is for us to know. Those things that have not been revealed to us (the secret things) are for the Lord to know and for HIM to work out.
Friends, trust the Lord in all of your life. Especially when things aren't going the way you had hoped. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Ephesians 1:11 says, "...we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will..." So even though your life may not seem to be going well, rest assured: God is working out His plan. If you love God and are called according to His purpose ( that is, you've believed and embraced the Gospel), then God is working all of the things in your life for good.
Remember, God is all Sovereign and stuff...
Amen!
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