Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
How often do we put off the things that God has placed in our hearts to do?
Maybe deep down in your heart, God has been speaking to you about serving in church, forgiving a wrong, or even losing some excess weight. Maybe it's a dream or a goal like starting a connect group, writing a book, accepting more responsibility to take on a higher leadership role.
God puts things on the inside of you for a purpose. He knows the plans and the purposes of your life and He also knows what things will help you fulfill and achieve those plans. But often we can make excuses like I’m too busy, I’ve tried before but failed, or I’m not talented enough. Sometimes we shrink back from things because we think it is too demanding and we lack the capacity.
I have discovered my capacity is far greater than I first imagined. I had even structured my time and week based on what I thought I needed, to get things done. But then God sticks His finger into the mix and stirs it around to make things challenging. But as God dropped me into the waters, I just had to swim. And that’s where I realized the grace of God comes to help you with “more” that comes along – more work, more responsibilities, more challenges, more people – I had a greater capacity than what I first thought, but it was through the grace of God.
Paul understood this and attributed all his hard work to the daily supply of grace in his life (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Instead of saying to myself “I cannot do that”, I start declaring “I can do all things in Christ”.
Often God will allow some disruption in your life so you at least take the first step. He’s been trying to get you to do something, but you won’t. So a little disruption comes along and that gets you moving. Once you are moving God can start moving. It's a moving vehicle that is so much easier to turn. And once you are moving that's when it’s easier for you to start making some changes in your life. You start heading in a different direction.
Once God has you headed down the path He wants, that's when He says to you:
“Stir up the gift. Fan the flame” (2 Timothy 1:6). How do you stir up that gift of God, that might have been lying dormant within you for years? It’s through the declaration of God’s plans and purposes over your life. As soon as you start declaring God’s plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, something begins to happen. God’s grace goes to work!
That grace goes to work in you and through you to accomplish the will and the work of the Lord in your life. (Philippians 2:13)