Great, glorious plans

I remember still remember the rush of emotions that overwhelmed me on the morning of February 10, 1977. On that day my son, Jay, was born. When that little baby boy was laid into my arms, I trembled - awed by the realization that God had trusted me to care for an eternal being full of potential. I (and his mom) was charged with a task stretching out over the next 18 or so years of provision, protection, and development of a man who would assume the responsibility for his own family years down the road. I had only the faintest inkling about the parenting challenges that lay ahead, but I knew that completing this God-given task would require discipline, encouragement, leadership, and love! Each child that God brought into our family, enlarged my dreams. I was not content to just 'raise' my children. It was my desire to help them to develop, to reach the full potential of their lives in the plan of God. Now, they are adults. What joy they bring to me - each one very different in gifts and talents; each one blessing the world in a different way; each one loving and serving God uniquely.

Do you know that God dreams great and glorious plans for you? In Ephesians 1, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, exults: "God thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, ... It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." (The Message) Hebrews says that through Christ, it is God's plan to "bring many sons to glory!" His plan includes a mature faith, deep devotion, developed spiritual gifts, and a fruitful life. It culminates with our reception into the Father's house, where we spend eternity enjoying His Presence and love.

When my kids were resisting the direction I was giving them, I would try to paint a word picture of the kind of person I was trying to help them to become. They didn't always 'get it.' My hope was that by helping them to see past the moment, they would be motivated to choose to engage with life, to resist temptation to live in sloth and self-indulgence. Our Father in Heaven asks us to look higher, too. If we can catch glimpses of the glory He's planned for us, we will more readily say "yes, Lord" to the rigorous discipline that brings us to share in His purposes. Living to our full potential, becoming a child of glory, is not inevitable! 'But,' you say, 'it is the plan of God!' That is true, but He allows us the freedom to choose to embrace that plan. We can live as self-willed sons or as obedient sons. When we resist Him, He disciplines us, not because He is wrathful or vindictive, but because He sees the perfect plan that will lead us to greatest glory. The Bible reminds us: "As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. ... Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever?" (Hebrews 12:7-9, NLT)

Today, ask God to help you understand His purposes. Let Him paint a picture of the glory He's planned for you. It will not likely be the 'glory' that an earth-focused life envisions - great wealth, fame, celebrity. It will the glory of a well-developed character like that of Christ. It will be the glory of a worthy life that honors Him, that is filled with the mature fruit of the Spirit including love, joy, and peace in abundance. Then, "God will rejoice over you!"