Thursday, September 8, 2011

He Knows What You Need

This morning I had to give the devotion at work. The title was "He Knows What You Need." A reminder that God has a plan for each of us and that plan is to prosper us and not to harm us. For hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Most of us have Jeremiah 29:11 memorized, but just because the Lord has great plans for us, doesn't mean He automatically gives it to us. He often withholds things from us for a season because He knows our character needs a little makeover or He needs to correct behavior in our life. But then, once He has molded us to have an image that reflects His, we are ready to receive His blessing and are mature enough to handle it.
It can be easy to become frustrated and discouraged when things aren't going the way you think they should. When your timeline isn't matching up with God's. Some people even turn away from God because they believed for something that didn't come on time - or come at all.
Last night I was doing my Bible study and trying to prepare for this morning's devotion and God gave me a sweet little nugget of wisdom to use for my devotion.
I was reading in 1st Samuel and Jonathan was about to attack the Philistines. Verse 6 says "Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, 'come let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few."
"Jonathan's faith in God was solid. He believed God could do anything but he also realized God could choose whether or not to allow him to be victorious against the Philistines. He knew God could do it, He didn't know if He would. Whether or not He did, Jonathan understood God's response to be based on sovereignty, not weakness." (Beth Moore)
I believe 100% that God is powerful enough to bless me with a biological child (if He so chooses) but so far that has not happened. For so long, I prayed, I cried, I begged God to let me conceive. Nada. He COULD answer that prayer, but He has CHOSEN not to. Can I just say that I look back at all those times I desperately cried out to the Lord and I'm thankful that wasn't the plan He had for me. If I had just gotten pregnant like I wanted, I would have missed out on this amazing ride that God has had John and I on the past (almost) two years.
There are many times in our lives when we think we know better than God - we don't! He knows exactly what we need. We just have to trust - knowing that it will be better than anything we could ever come up with.
Faith is about so much more than just hoping God will give you what you want - it's about truly wanting His best - it's about trusting in His sovereignty.

2 comments:

  1. Your blog is very inspirational! Darren and I are going to start the adoption in the next year, and I am comforted by your words. I also believe that not being able to successfully become pregnant has made me cherish the moment even more when we have our child!

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