Does God Really Have a Plan? - By Donna L Young
Does God have a plan for your life?
According to scripture, He does. "Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Psalms 100:3 NKJV)."
But what if living God's plan meant you had to surrender all and completely transform your life? Would you be willing to obey, knowing God had something greater planned for you?
Living according to my own will, I graduated from college and became a Social Worker. I obtained a Master's degree in psychology and worked with foster children for just over a decade. Then I married an unbeliever and did everything I could to bring him into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Even though my marriage was failing and I felt miserable in my job role, I was unwilling to admit God had a plan for my life if I would surrender to His will. But that would all change soon.
What happens when Christians sincerely pray to do the Lord's will?
My life seemed normal to me until a week prior to October 20, 2008. For just under a week, I prayed to God for a purpose in life. One night, I found myself watching a special on television. The program featured doctors from the United States helping sufferers in Haiti. I began to pray,"Please God, use my life to bring others to You." Since I had participated in mission trips before, I really felt God would send me on another short-term mission. Perhaps I would go unaccompanied, seeing that my husband of five years and I had grown apart. His unbelief, as well as, his addiction to prescription medication had severed my desire to bring him to Christ any longer.
God responded in a way I never expected!
Four days after praying for God to use me, my husband overdosed on prescription medication and physically hurt me. Although our marriage had been failing for years, prior to this date, my husband had never raised a hand to me. When I called the Sheriff's department to report the incident, my husband put on his Navy uniform, greeted the deputies and lied about what happened. The young Sheriff's deputies believed my husband's lies. Consequently, I was charged with a felony and restrained from my home, belongings and more importantly, my three-year-old son.
While hunched over in a jail holding cell, I realized I had lived my life for me. I wasn't the Christian I wanted to be and I had misrepresent God by my negative behaviors of lying, gossiping and self-arrogance. Out of desperation, I surrendered my life to Christ and cried out for His help.
Jesus immediately answered!
Jesus spoke to me through another inmate who offered instant comfort and assurance. Just after the young woman entered the holding cell, she looked right at me and said in a slang drawl, "Girl, why you cryin,' God's with you," and then started to sing old church hymns. I stopped crying and asked her for her name. She simply replied, "It's t."
God was also in the Jail Supervisor who put her hand on my shoulder and very softly said, "You are going to get through this." The same officer "accidentally" allowed me to wear my cross necklace while I was in the holding cell. The tower watchman treated me as a guest and yelled for me to call my mother, whom he had already spoken to. Bail was paid quickly and I was released early.
God opened the eyes of my heart to see His will.
It didn't take long for God to open my eyes. I quickly began to notice how He had orchestrated the event.
- The criminal attorney I hired was well known by the judge and prosecuting attorney. He cut me a large break in his normal fees and had the charges dropped as quickly as possible.
- The doctor who treated my injuries wrote his report to corroborate my story.
- Childhood friends from my home town went out of their way to show God's mercy.
- And a grocery store clerk said something personal and encouraging that only God would have known to say.
Who had I really prayed for that night? God's plan for my life unfolds!
Through the hope and help from Jesus during this incident, my heart began to transform. Many years of arrogance and self-righteousness erased quickly. I no longer wanted to be the center of attention. I learned to surrender to God's will, and boy was I humbled.
Because of the violence with my husband, I did move out of our home and into a small apartment with our youngest son. Initially, my husband refused to get help for his addiction or admit what he had done. Out of frustration, I met with a divorce attorney. I prayed before the meeting and while listening to the attorney talk about the details of a divorce, I had an overwhelming sense not to proceed. Consequently, I did not divorce my husband.
Instead, I enrolled in school. As God would have it, the program I entered was Theological Seminary. The new Master's Degree in Theological Studies would completely discredit the degree I held in psychology. I began to learn Scripture for the first time and God became my center of attention.
I started to pray for my husband again. And, after five years of never wanting anything to do with God; on his own, he began to attend church. My husband has since accepted Jesus into his life and even encouraged my recent baptism and graduation from the Seminarian program. He professes his faith daily to others.
Today, I live my life according to God's plan for me.
I have walked hand in hand with Jesus for the past three years. He has spoken to me through scripture and spiritual songs. He has even used people to speak His Word to reach my heart. God has used this trial in my life to lead several of my neighbors, friends, family and the homeless to Him. He has even reunited me with my biological father, who, until recently, I had not spoken to in over 23 years.
I am living testimony that God has a plan for our lives and that joy comes when we surrender to His will (Psalms 100:3 NKJV).
Donna L. Young graduated from Liberty Baptist University with a Masters Degree in Theological Studies and is the Author of the book "Apologies from a Repentant Christian." To learn more about this author, please visit: http://dlouyoung.blogspot.com. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donna_L_Young
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