It is His purpose that prevails

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. ~Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)

At first glance you might think by the way Proverbs 19:21 reads that things will never go your way. Sometimes religion tells us that God’s will and our will can be two very different things. The enemy doesn’t want us to even contemplate that loving and obeying God with our lives could bring a joy that nothing this world has to offer. He doesn’t want us to believe that things not going our way could actually be a blessing. We all believe we know what we want and so we make our plans. We think that what we plan will make us happy, but we must remember that we are looking at life with extremely limited vision. The truth is that we have no idea what will bring joy into our lives that is lasting. Have you ever wanted something so badly that you couldn’t imagine life without it? Something you just couldn’t get your mind off of and then after you finagled long enough and finally got what you thought you wanted it became a burden to you? That can be a bitter pill to swallow, but hopefully we learn the next time to watch out for our emotions which want to rule our world. They can easily be triggered by the enemy to slip us up and get us out of balance. Being led by out of balance emotions will get us into trouble every time!

God desires nothing more than to see His children happy and successful and He has confirmed that with an everlasting covenant. That covenant is the promise of His unfailing love. It is not dependent on anything we do or don’t do except believing in Jesus and that His sacrifice paid the penalty for our sins and bought our unmerited favor with God. When we come to believe that truth, the Holy Spirit swings the door wide open and ushers us into God’s presence to share our days with Him including our joys, our successes, our burdens, our doubts, and our fears. God wants to share our whole life with us. That is the purpose that we need to realize will prevail! The Lord wants to bless us with all His resources and with His never-ending love. He wants us to walk in the knowledge that He is well pleased with us and so pleased that He is willing to redirect our hearts when necessary and renew our minds to show us His will for our lives. Next time you make a plan, remember God’s promise that it is His purpose that prevails. Trust God when things don’t go your way. Trust Him enough to say, “not my will but yours be done Lord”. Jesus ended His prayer request that way and so should we. Only those who truly trust in God’s love, goodness, and favor towards them are able to operate in that level of faith. We should thank the Lord regularly for His plans for us. His plans are not just good, they are incredible!

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ~Genesis 12:2 (NIV)

What have you finagled in your life that you ended up not really wanting?

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