Whose Plan is It Anyway?

Decisions - we all make them. All day long. Everyday. For our entire lives. They may seem small and insignificant, like what shoes you wear that day, or life-changing and majorly important, like where you live or work and who you marry. But each one affects us. They all play a part in determining where our lives go. After all, where you are today is really just a culmination of all the little and big choices that you have already made.

I believe that God has a plan for each of our lives. How do we know that the choices we make follow His plan? In other words, how do I know what God's will is?

Jason Gaddis, the pastor of my church, Southwest Baptist Church, preached a message on Sunday morning that laid it out so clearly. Most of what you will read from this point on in today's post is taken from my notes on his message. It was a blessing to me and I hope it will be a blessing to you as well.

1. God will never lead you in a path that contradicts His Word. In other words, if God says in the Bible that something is sin, He will NEVER “lead” you do it. If you are praying about something that is called sin in the Bible, and yet you feel “peace” about it, then it is a false peace. You are lying to yourself to get what you want. God is constant and true; He doesn't change His mind about right and wrong.
2. God's leadership will become evident through a series of circumstances. If God is moving in your life, you will see His fingerprints all over the place. We are not talking anything supernatural; everything will still have a human explanation, but it will be evident that it is of God.
   • This does come with a caution, because there is danger in taking this too far. We can read into strange things and see patterns where there are none.
   • It may take time to become evident. It probably won't be in one big revelatory moment. After all, following God is like the choices we make. It is a turn by turn, step by step, moment by moment decision. We follow Him one day at a time, one decision at a time.
3. His leadership will be evident to others around you. While they cannot make the decision for you, God has given you people who have the wisdom to aid you. Your parents, pastor, Godly people that you respect and know you well, and even good close friends can help. It is wise to seek their input and to listen carefully to what they have to say. Often they too will see God's hand moving in your life. And if you are heading in a wrong way, they might even be able to see your motives more clearly than you can.
4. God's leadership will ALWAYS stretch your faith. It will always bring you to a place of further growth where you have to learn to trust Him more. He may even ask you to begin moving forward before the whole plan is revealed. It may take time for all of the evidence to appear.
5. God's leadership will come in your life at a time when you are delighting in God. What is delighting in God? Pastor Gaddis said, “When you are delighting in God, His will is more important to you than your will.”
   • This involves having a submitted, surrendered heart. It acknowledges that sometimes getting what we want could be the worst thing that could happen to us. It takes faith that says, "While life does involve hardship and trials, ultimately God is a good Father who only gives good gifts to His children." He will not give us what we want if it bad for us.
   • This step might be the most important. Because circumstances, the opinions of others, and even having faith can potentially be skewed or twisted to fit our our plans when we want something badly enough. For example: we could misread circumstances to give evidence to something that is baseless. We might ask only people who agree with us for advice. We could tell ourselves that “it just takes faith” when the evidence of God's hand is lacking.

This wasn't in Bro. Gaddis' message, but I think opposition often comes along with knowing God's will. It could be as small, like gentle resistance to simply put something off a little while, or big, like flat-out full-scale persecution. Not everyone around you will understand or agree with your decision. It could involve a lot more work than you expected. It may even discourage you. But take a deep breath, grab hold of your faith, and remember that when God reveals His plan He will provide you with the grace and strength to follow it.