GOOD PLANS
Struggling to believe that Jesus has good plans for your life?
Yeah, I get it. I’ve struggled with that too. I struggled to believe that both in faith and in action, for about twenty years of my life. While the consequences of such a lukewarm or conditional relationship with Jesus had major ripple effects on my life, I would not take back a moment of the years of pain and striving I have walked through because now, I know Jesus in a way that beckons me to finally hold fast to the gospel and promises of God. I know Jesus now as a God who is abundantly in tune with my heart, my suffering, and my desires. God is no longer this perfect deity that walks alongside me wishing I would do better. God is a trustworthy friend and leader who bends down beside me and intimately is aware of my pain. Aware of my pain because He too, has felt pain and sorrow. What matters to me and scares me and hurts me is not foreign or confusing to God. He’s that friend and father who is supplying me with the life and power of His Spirit to do good despite the condition of my heart and the state of my sin. A healing point in my Christianity was when I was at the breaking point of my Christianity. When my plans were undone. When sin was too great to process. When I was overwhelmed and frankly, unsure I could continue… I found a God who extended to me an unimaginable amount of grace and goodness in my life that would outdo the damaging discontentment that I had been clinging to for a long time. My feelings were conquered by the presence and greatness of a Living and active God who did not leave me to wallow in the chaos and aftereffects of my disobedience and disappointment. When I expected God to make me learn the hard way and let loose His wrath, instead the wondering of my heart was intercepted by the generosity and outpouring of a magnificent King. When I expected to be turned into an atheist, I was captivated with a new affection towards Jesus. If you knew me about six months ago, you know that is nothing short of a miracle. So, when I say that I believe God has good plans for me, I say that with the utmost confidence and authority. My discontentment has been transformed into gratitude. My skepticism has become my serenity. My suffering has proven itself to be a platform for His glory. And my every wondering God has found its resting place in His power. My questions have not been answered. My faith is not built now on impenetrable apologetics. I have tasted and seen what the world has to offer me. But I’ve experienced a glimpse of Heaven and nothing else compares. My Shepherd is beautiful and Powerful and Radiant. He won me over. I am His. And He is mine. What could separate us now…
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39
