Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Embrace What God Is Doing In Your Life

“As we journey through this life – through the easy times and the painful times – God is fashioning us into people who are like his Son, Jesus. That means God is in the process of changing what we desire far more than He is in the process of giving us what we desire.” –  Charles Stanley, Finding God’s Blessings in Brokenness.  

Peter tried to help Jesus escape being arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus rebuked Peter saying, “But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures…” (Matthew 26:56) Jesus submitted himself to God’s will and plan for His life and endure what was to come next. Rather than try to avoid or escape the troubles we are facing, we should embrace God’s will, just as Jesus did. We may never fully understand why troubles come into our lives, but God doesn’t ask us to fully understand, He asks us to trust Him. And we may have difficulty understanding His will for our life, but God’s will isn’t for us to worry, it is to trust His will. Everything we go through is part of God’s plan for us. 

It is understandable that we would feel unsettled in times of trouble and as a result, we stop embracing the life God had called us to because we want things on our own terms. In times like this we need to remember that God sets the terms and He, not us, has an amazing plan for our lives. But before we can fully embrace God’s plan for our lives we have to come to grips with the concept that His plans may not always be logical. They may require us to step out into the unknown through faith. It may be quite an adventure. It may be strewn with some potholes. It will not be a life free of suffering, but it would be a life that God wants us to live. 

But to embrace God’s plan means we have to set aside our plan, our agenda. We need to stop using our own logic to determine what I should (or should not) do. That is not what God wants. He wants our whole life. He wants to be the Potter and we are the clay. “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.” (Jeremiah 18:6) What if we let God take our whole life and shape it into what He designed it to be? There would be no safer or more joyful place to be than inside His plan for each one of us.

Our time on this earth is fleeting.  If we spend too much time trying to interpret God’s plan for us, we will never implement His plans us. That is where faith and trust and wisdom come in. We don’t know what the future will hold, but we know that He is good and will bring what He began to completion (Philippians 1:6).  

Trust the Lord, His promises, and His plan to direct your path. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Discussion Questions:

  1. What plans have you been making for yourself? How well do they reflect your trust in God and His destiny and purpose for your life? Why do you think God lets us make decisions about our destiny?
  2. How does truly trusting God for your destiny affect your prayer life, your relationships with other people, and your perspective on world events?
  3. How can you find joy in the reliability of God—despite your circumstances? 

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