How to Find God’s Plan
Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:6-9 NKJV.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. – Psalm 147:5 NKJV.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. – Proverbs 3:5 NKJV.
Ashley McIntyre and Danny Robinson are soon to be married. They began dating in May, and Danny asked Ashley to marry him on Christmas day 2014. Their romance began in a completely unexpected way. Ashley happened to overhear her mother talking with someone about a 25-year-old man who lived in their city, Louisville, Kentucky. The discussion Ashley overheard was about this man’s need of a kidney since his kidneys had stopped functioning. The man’s story seemed tragic as his father had recently died, and not only that, his house had also burned. Ashley felt a compulsion to do something about this and called to volunteer as a donor. Of course, what are the odds of being a donor match for a perfect stranger? She had all the tests performed to determine whether she could be a donor and it was found that she was a perfect match. The surgery was performed in April, and afterwards they stayed in contact texting and calling until they began dating. Ashley says, “As soon as we started dating, not long after that, was when we realized this was it. I never in a million years imagined this would happen, it was a whirlwind. It’s crazy how it all worked. It was all planned out by God.” (Orange News 02.13.15)
I have often pondered Philippians 4:7 where we are told, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (NKJV).” The old KJV puts this as, “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Having experienced that peace which surpasses, passeth “all understanding” many times, I am always amazed at how God does that.
God is God because He is beyond our understanding; He has abilities beyond what we can comprehend. We see examples of this in creation. There are besides human beings, creatures roaming this earth that are very intelligent: cats, dogs, apes, dolphins and more. However, the abilities that we have intellectually are beyond those creatures abilities to understand.
God’s plans have often perplexed humans, and we see examples of this in the Bible. Think of Noah building a huge ark on dry ground. Think of God’s plan for the defeat of the great walled city of Jericho. Think of Gideon and God’s method of choosing a far smaller number of warriors to defeat the enemy. Instead of thousands of men, God only thought Gideon needed a few hundred, and God was right!
God does have thoughts toward you, and those thoughts are “of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God does have a plan for your life and the key to finding that plan is as the writer of Proverbs says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” Noah, Joshua, and Gideon all had to “lean not” on their “own understanding” and with eyes of faith put their complete trust in the Lord. And, that my friends, is how you find God’s plan for your life.