I’m in a hard place. Did I miss the plan of my Father?

“If I were in the ‘will of God’ these terrible things would not be happening to me.  Doesn’t He promise me that He has a wonderful plan, a hope and future?”  The person asking me those questions is an earnest Christian, devout and faithful.  He had experienced one disappointment after the other for several years. Even some of his Christian friends had backed away as if he had some kind of spiritual disease. I tried to help him understand that he had believed a half-truth. Yes, God is loving and blesses His children and He also allows them to walk through trials for many reasons – His own glory, to bring them closer to Himself.  Another conversation went so much differently. She had many troubles.  With tears in her eyes she said, “As the things of this world are pulled away, His Presence becomes so much sweeter, doesn’t it?”   Her faith was rich!

Christian, if we desire to know the serenity of God’s Presence and to live in the center of His will, we must surrender.  He does ask us to adopt an attitude of apathy, nor does He try to force us into desperate resignation.  He invites us to trust, an active choice like that of Jesus who prayed “Not my will, but Yours be done.”   Psalm 37 shows the way:  “Trust in the Lord… … do good… Delight yourself in the LORD … Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." (Psalm 37:1-6, NIV)

Assuming that a person has dealt with self-will and/or sin with humility and repentance, what then?  RELAX!

There is a confidence that we own when we are walking in the Spirit. "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears." (Philippians 1:6, The Message)  God has planted the seed of His will in us and it is germinating. We care for it by prayer, by meditation, by worship, and by learning the Word. But, we cannot make it grow.  Imagine planting a row of beans and then each morning digging them up to see if they were growing! You would not harvest many beans from that garden, would you? Even when it seems like life is going backwards for you, when there is no discernable path in front of you, walk on; in faith.

God is at work, 'finishing in you what He has started.'

Consider David, the poet/king of Israel.  He was called to be God's anointed king while still a young teenager in his father's household. A short while after his encounter with the prophet, Samuel, he went off to take supplies to his brothers who were at war. There he was deeply offended by the faithlessness of the Israeli army. Stirred by the Spirit, he took on the giant, Goliath, killing him on the field of battle with a simple shepherd's sling. King Saul summonsed David to the royal court. Looks like the young farm boy just got his big break, doesn't it? It wasn't! For the next two decades, David was a fugitive, running from the insane jealousy of Saul.

So, was David in the will of God? Every indication in the Bible is that he was! Finally, Saul was killed in battle and David took the throne. Even then, several years passed before he consolidated his power and moved forward to lead the nation to greatness for the glory of his God. Did David like waiting through the hard times? I don't think so. During that time, he wrote Psalm 57, where you can sense his questioning of his pathway, even as he bravely declares his faith in God.  Remember, God is not threatened by our honest questions.  Ask them, but in faith and surrender.

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection.
I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this violent storm is past.
I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.
He will send help from heaven to save me, rescuing me from those who are out to get me.

...My enemies have set a trap for me. I am weary from distress.
They have dug a deep pit in my path, but they themselves have fallen into it.
My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises!" (Psalm 57, NLT)

God is with you today!
Present yourself to Him.

He is working out His plans and purposes in your life. Stay steady. Keep on doing the right things even when nothing is making sense. And this is the promise you can take with you:

To the faithful you show yourself faithful;

to those with integrity you show integrity.

To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.

You rescue those who are humble, but you humiliate the proud.

Lord, you have brought light to my life;

my God, you light up my darkness.

In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.

As for God, his way is perfect.

All the Lord's promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. -- Psalm 18:25-30 NLT

_____________________

My stubborn will at last hath yielded;

I would be Thine, and Thine alone;

And this the prayer my lips are bringing,

"Lord, let in me Thy will be done."

Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,

Till I am wholly lost in Thee;

Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,

Till I am wholly lost in Thee.

Sweet Will Of God- Morris, Lelia N. © 1968 Lillenas Publishing Company