God Has Plans for Your Success
He was more than confident, he was
arrogant. He was used to getting his way and did not exude the characteristics
of God even though it was God who blessed him. He was to have a different kind
of success. His success came in spite of himself. God had planned for him to be
a blessing to the people God loved. Therefore, God used him even though he did
not deserve it. The lust of the flesh overcame him and he dishonored his
parents. Still, it was the plan of God that he should have success in his life
to bless others.
If you are a believer, God has a
plan for your life. God has planned a successful life for you at whatever
social status you might inhabit. Even though you may be unsure of what God’s
blessing is for your life, you can be assured that God has a plan for you. It
is up to the believer to seek God and discover his plan. Ironically, even those
who do not seek God, such as Samson mentioned in the above story, will still
experience the success God wants for them to meet his purpose. However, those
who do not seek God will miss a multitude of blessings that might come their
way if they had but sought God to guide their lives.
God already knows of the plans he
has for your life. He is patiently waiting for you to seek him so he can guide
you to the success that he has for you. Many seek their own success. After a
long hard struggle they turn to God for help, only to forsake him again when he
shows them a glimpse of what he has for their lives.
Many get anxious and quit just
before God reveals everything he has for them. Once they quit, they must start
over and the process takes longer than what it would have if the believer had
the faith to know that God would finish the work he had started.
Instead, when you experience success
in your life, wait for God to continue to show you the plan he has for the next
step. He knows your future! If we trust him to guide us we will continuously
walk in his abundance.
The Lord has heard your prayer
before you have even prayed it. He knows that you are on a high peak, but soon
there will be a struggle. He has already heard your prayer.
Sometimes, while I am praying the
answer comes while I am still praying. Sometimes he does not answer until
later. Matthew 6:8 says God knows what you need before you pray. He wants to
meet your needs according to his will.
Brenda read me a letter one day from
a woman who had been cleaning the windows for the Associational Area offices
where Brenda works. She noticed that the lady had been losing weight and found
out she had cancer. Brenda prayed for her to be healed. The man and wife had
been working for the Association for some time and then one day, they were
gone. There was no warning, they just left. Later, Brenda had found out she had
to go to the hospital for a series of tests. However, when they completed the
battery of tests, the doctor said, “I don’t know what happened, but the cancer
is gone.”
I know what happened! God heard
their prayer and she was healed. Through the obedience of Brenda, God used her
to be the instrument of healing. If God hears your prayer, you know God is
going to answer the prayer you have. That may not mean that he will answer it
according to your will, but according
to his. If Hitler had not come into power, it is possible the Jews would not be
in the Promised Land today. Because of the atrocities committed to the Jews
during World War II, they were granted The Promised Land; the land given to
them by God. God used the atrocities of the war to bring his children home.
Because of the grace of God, he hears our
prayers. He does not answer because he has to answer, he answers because of his
grace. The paradox is that he has said in his Word that he will answer us; therefore,
he is now bound by his own Word to do as he has told us he would do.
Nevertheless, it is only through his grace that he made the promise in the
first place.
1 John 5:14 says,
“This
is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according
to his will, he hears us.” As you pray, begin to rejoice. It is important to
believe that God has already done what he has said he will do.
The faith in a graceful God will help you
to believe that God has already done the work. He says, “Ask anything in my
name and it will be done.” He will answer the prayer according to his will. In
that way, we know that prayers are answered. God has heard our prayers; we must
wait in expectation for his answer; which does not mean sitting back and doing
nothing while waiting. Instead, one must continue to work on the task that had
been previously given until the answer is revealed.
Our Association ministers in one of
the Indian tribes in the nation and I was privileged to be able to attend one
of these trips. I found the Indians to be loving but very shy and apprehensive
people. In fact, there was most certainly a distrust of outsiders. Given the
history of the American Indian, it is not difficult to understand their lack of
trust.
As in most churches, Indian or not, the
women were more active than the men. Alcoholism is prevalent in the village,
but that too can be expected. When the Indians were placed on the reservation,
obviously, women were allowed to cook and clean and do the chores that women
did in those days. However, the men were no longer allowed to hunt. They were
not allowed to provide for their families. All that was needed for survival was
given to them by the government. The men no longer had a purpose. With the lack
of purpose, they turned to other things to fill their time which, in the case
of this tribe, was alcohol.
There was a woman who stood up and
gave her testimony. For the purpose of anonymity, we will call her Joan. She
had a very hard life. Abused by her first husband, she divorced him and
remarried only to receive more of the same. She began to drink with her new husband
so she would not feel the pain of the abuse that was sure to be repeated. She
became an alcoholic and lived to drink.
She witnessed in tears as she told of
how she would watch her grandchildren only if she got paid by her daughter;
otherwise she wanted to drink.
One night she got
drunk and drove off in the car. While she was out, she had an accident and
killed someone. She woke up in a jail cell. She didn’t even know what had
happened to her. It was not until her daughter told her that she killed someone
that she sobered up completely.
Joan was incarcerated
for about 9 years. She told us of how she had been seeking God her entire life,
but had never heard the message of God. She said that she was a member of the
Catholic church, but when she had gone to the priest to tell him she was
seeking God, he told her to do “Hail Mary’s” or “Our Father’s.” She wanted God
her whole life but did not truly know how to accept him.
Joan told of how she began to listen to
radio preachers and through them she learned how to be saved. One night, she
got on her knees and prayed to God and asked him to change her life. She said
she didn’t even know if she was praying right, because she had never been
taught to pray. Nevertheless, after she awoke the next morning, she realized
that the Lord had indeed cleansed her the previous evening. She began to study
and seek God all the more.
When Joan was
released from prison she needed a driver’s license to begin to support herself.
However, she was told that she would never be able to get a license again. That
was “Man” speaking; God knew her needs and he made it possible for her to get a
license and a car.
Joan is now a huge
part of the church in her village and witnesses for Christ every chance she has.
Most men in America
face the same issue the Indian tribe faces. With the increasing entitlements
from the government, the men no longer have to work by the sweat of their brow.
They are not following the Laws of God for Success. Instead, these men are now
taken care of by the government that seeks to enslave them through their
dependence on the same government.
Men must break out of
this trend and the only way to do that is to begin to seek to provide for their
families as has been outlined in God’s Word.
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