The Plan

I am thankful that God has a plan. He always has. Not just for your life and mine. A plan for the whole world. A plan stretching back to before there was a planet Earth. A plan that has encompassed thousands of years and billions of people. A plan all the way up to the very end. He has accounted for everything. Faith, obedience, doubt, rebellion. All factors are equated into His plan.

In God's plan He has used righteous people as well as unrighteous people to carry out His purposes. Look at Moses and Pharaoh for example. He has also used ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things with His help.

Do you consider yourself to be ordinary? Do you think of yourself being pretty average? If you have committed your life to Jesus you are a prime candidate to be a vessel He works through to do extraordinary things.

When Jesus began His ministry and recruited those who would eventually found and lead the New Testament church He chose ordinary fishermen. He did not choose scholars. He did not choose rich and powerful men. He did not opt for the well connected social influencers of the day. He chose common laborers. Look what God did though them. Many of those men wrote books in the New Testament. Many became influential leaders in the church. Many died violent deaths for the sake of Jesus. All left a legacy of faith. They followed the plan.

I do not pretend to know the fullness of God's plan. You will note that I did not say I do not know the plan for your life. Your life isn't the most important factor nor mine. God is the most important factor. His plan is most important. How do we discover His plan.

We use four tings. Prayer for His will and plan to be revealed. We read and study Scripture trusting God to reveal His plan. We wait patiently until He does reveal His plan and we anticipate His peace to reassure us of the direction we are supposed to follow.

None of those four things comes naturally. It is more natural for us to use logic and reason to determine the best course of action or direction for life. Many do this and have made grave errors. God's ways are not our ways. [Is 55:8-9] We are supposed to pray and ask for God to reveal His plan. Then we go to His word. Sometimes God speaks very clearly from His word. Other times we read page after page without any clear direction. We read truth but on occasion His truth does not appear to apply to our desire to know His plan. Then we wait. We keep patiently reading the word of God day after day and week after week until we get some light. When that light of revelation comes we need to wait for His peace to guard our hearts and minds. [Phil 4:6-7] Once all of these things are in alignment we assuredly move into God's plan even if we are ordinary.

Some may think, "God can't use me because I am so ordinary." Do not try and shrink God down to your thinking. God can do anything He pleases through anyone He pleases. That includes us if we are yielded to Him. Read these words. May they both comfort and challenge us in the days ahead.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NKJV)
26  For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28  and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29  that no flesh should glory in His presence.
30  But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--
31  that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."

The world tells us to do anything significant we need more. More talent. More education. More experience. More connections. You do not need more of anything else for God to use you in His plan. All you need to do is be yielded to Him and wait on His revelation of how He wants to use you. Be yielded and obedient by faith. The pages of the Bible and history books are filled with the names of ordinary people God used to fulfill His extraordinary plans. He can just as easily use you to carry out His plan. Do you believe this? If so pray, study, wait and in peace discover that plan and get in on it.