Dear SCC & Friends,
…the plans I have for you… ~Jeremiah 29:11
Reflection #283
Virtually every good thing in my life has been in spite of me, not because of me. His grace has sustained each one of us when we didn’t know we needed sustaining. The Lord has both disrupted and directed our life to set us on a course. …for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. ~Phil. 2:13 Our life story is a by-product of God’s sovereignty and the exercise of our free will. You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide ~Jn. 15:16 The Lord has given us a free will which is both a gift and a liability. God’s sovereignty and our free will are truths in tension united in the mystery of faith… It’s been said that parallel lines only meet in God… His direction and our trust work hand in hand… Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. ~Prov. 3:5-6
None of us were given options at birth regarding our sex, race or national origin… He created us when, where and how He wanted… Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture ~Ps. 100:3 He’s the Potter, we’re the clay… The Lord’s lovingkindness and grace direct us even when we resist His direction… I never wanted to be a school teacher, but I am very grateful for the five years I had as a Jr. High teacher in rural America. I never wanted to be in sales and marketing, yet I count those ten years of business experience and perspective as a great blessing to my life. I never wanted to be a “Reverend”, but from the beginning wanted to help others grow in Christ. I didn’t want to “pastor a church”, but His plans for me were infinitely better than my plans… I can testify… “He’s got plans for you.” …“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope”. ~Jer. 29:11 Keep up the good work!
Made for these days,
Kevin