Plans

Again a repeated devotional...August 2008 the stories and events may change but the lessons are timeless...


I woke and told God thank you for his blessed safety through the night, and reminded him that I have made plans loosely and to please guide me as my day unfolds....This added to the prayer that I am getting more and more addicted to my computer...and I need some help pulling away...was the beginning of God's unveiling answers. One at a time, all week last week, if was as if God was saying...are you willing to deviate now....and what about now...and what about now? (Sounds a little like that Verizon commercial) I love writing but God was to show me that there were other priorities that must come first and I had to be willing to make adjustments based on God's guidance not my preconceived intentions. A sick daughter, Molly's senior year responsibilities, helping my dad... My schedule had become a routine...and I didn't want to much deviate from it....because I liked doing what I was doing and I liked the time slots that I carved out to get it done. Thought I knew I was writing what God had put on my heart...I am afraid that I was tilting my schedule to be more about me than about God. And there is where God needed to make revisions in my life. Beware...for even though we are doing something that may bring God glory....we must be careful to not put the emphasis on the gift and not the giver.

It is so easy to get hooked into a routine....and to push God aside. We track a good thing, or a notable purpose, or a needed assistance...but the truth is God wants us to track Him.
And when we are tracking Him....then he will lead us to the purposes he has planned. We are a programmed lot...we plan and then put those plans into motion and so many times leave little room for God's distractions and other priorities. I know this might sound way off balance and certainly contradictory to what the world tells us....but if we truly are to honor the relationship that we have been offered from God..... to be an active part of His kingdom through the belief in the life and death of his son Jesus Christ...then we have to follow the unseen, intangible, lead of His Holy Spirit. And the only way to follow that lead is to consciously be aware of God's presence through His Holy Spirit....and the only way to consciously be aware of His presence is to seek it. We have to be looking for it no matter what else surrounds us! The Holy Spirit is hovering...seldom making a sound...but always available to guide us to the place that God has intended for us to go.

It is only when we are submissive to that call are we able to be truly confident in the direction that we are going. We have to continually ask the question...Am I doing what God has chosen for me to do...or what I have chosen for me to do? In my case, I was loving the computer, and though I was doing what I know God has gifted me to do...I was running on my own steam and my own timetable. God, I know doesn't want me to get into a state of placid routine...for routine is often times a distraction of its own leaving no room for God's input and his change of direction. I realize that for God to be the driver of my life, I have to let him be behind the steering wheel...and so many times, for me, it is hard to release the driving position to someone who may not necessarily drive towards the direction I want to go, or go the speed that I desire. But that is the deal with God...he will not take over and sit in that drivers seat until it is offered. It is I who have to make the decision...do I want God to lead...or NOT.

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

I find it funny to think that God has offered us a relationship with Himself....God, the creator of the universe...the one who knows all and sees all and has all the right answers...and we cast it casually aside in exchange for the gifts and glamors and indulgences of this earth. I say to myself sometimes,,,,when I am inwardly nudged to consciousness "What are you thinking?" God offers all that he has...to us...His power, His wisdom, His peace, His strength, His provisions, His love, His forgiveness....and what we have we offered in return....all he wants is the wheel! The steering wheel of our lives...and what would happen if we gave it to Him? Well, You answer that...according to your life...But I have to say that when I do remember to change places and let him be my driver...I am immediately positioned in a place of confidence and contentment. For my life is in the hands of the driver...and this is a driver to be trusted.

I must release my routine....and I must release my desire to do things my way and instead, rely on God to lead me in His. If he is to answer my quest to not honestly be sucked into the
guiles of computer complacency...and my self absorbed routine management...then I have to be willing to acknowledge God when he nudges me to step outside the comfort spot that I have contrived. For my freedom lies not in what I have planned...for my plans are relatively confining... and true freedom is seeking God...who in turns will show me what He has planned. For I have learned that God, the ultimate creator...will also use His creative notions to introduce me to His world of awesome opportunities that are far beyond my imaginations....If only I would sit in my designated spot and go to the places that He leads. If I allow myself to stay confined to my earthly routine, I know that I will be missing out on the riches that God has waiting...through experiences that He has planned. But He has given me the choice!!!! I chose to seek the giver...and I will see how he wants to handle His gifts. .
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Seek not the gift but the giver...and there you will find true contentment...in all that you are and in all that you do.

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!

website:
www.cathyjodeit.com
email address: cjodeit@gmail.com
The blog link below has all devotionals from the beginning of the year:

http://simplygod-cathy.blogspot.com/