GOD’S PLANS AND PURPOSES

It was a glorious moment when I realized that God had a plan for my life. Oh, I knew that christians were to spread the gospel and to win souls for the kingdom of God. I knew that I was here on this earth, saved and filled with the Spirit, to represent Jesus to this world. And then, Jeremiah 29:11 was brought to my attention.

 I realized that God had a plan for me…a plan He designed for me before the foundation of the earth. Another glorious moment! Isn’t it a wonderful to realize that your life will touch other lives and a difference in this sad and dying world will be made? I felt I needed to find out what God’s plan and purpose was for me. I got busy.

 I read the scriptures, I listened to all the teachings I could find about this subject, I devoured books, and of course, I prayed and asked God to show me what this plan was. I was so excited; God had a specific plan for my life. Because He is a BIG god, I believed His plan for me was big. But I never got an answer that satisfied me. I finally decided that I would just serve in the house of God and let Him reveal His plan to me when He (or I) was ready.

 As I look back on my life with the Lord, I can see His fingerprints. I can see how He led me everyday by the Spirit. My steps were ordered by Him. He placed me in certain places for divine appointments. When I would open my mouth, He would fill it. He used me to pray for people and to encourage them. I served on the worship team at my church. I taught in Children’s Church. I helped teach a beginners class for new believers. He had me to open up my home to be used for a cell group.

 I also served in the kitchen. Wherever I was placed, I tried my best to serve Him and His people. I learned to apply principles of His word to my life and to consistently walk in them. I saw how He used the tumultuous times in my life to mold me more into His image, and the prosperous times to glorify Him. All this time, He was working out His plan for my life and I was fulfilling it. God revealed His plan and purpose for my life on a day to day basis.

 You see, most of us are not called to pastor a church or to take the Gospel to a foreign field or to minister before hundreds of people. Most of the body of Christ are called to serve. That is what Jesus did.

Another truth that I found in God’s plan for my life was to just have a personal relationship with Him; to spend time with Him everyday until I spent every moment with Him no matter where I was. His plan for me was relational. Out of this relationship, God uses me and He will use you to touch many many lives. Some of the lives we will touch will be those of the household of God and some will be of the world. In nurturing my relationship with God, I found that God placed His Name upon me in the workplace, in the local community and in the church. The name He gave me was His name. Those that know me know that God is my God and I worship Him. I came to realize that, whatever my service, if my life shows a picture of Jesus, I have fulfilled His plan. I encourage you to embrace service to God and to others and help Him fulfill His plan for your life.