Slowly but surely, I have been taking my life back into my own hands.
I have forgotten how good God is.
I have forgotten that He has better plans for me than I have for myself. That He wants to orchestrate and design my future, and even this very day… if I will let Him.
How can an all-powerful God be subject to our own willingness? Because He loves us that much: He gives us a choice.
Every moment we have the choice to pursue our own desires, or to pursue His. Every moment He gives us the grace we need to follow Him, and step by step He will take us where we need to be. It may not look anything like we have planned, and it may be frightening at times to take the steps He wants us to. But would we rather keep on in the predictable and humdrum way we always do, in stagnancy and resignation? Or will we say yes when He is speaking to our hearts?
I want to say yes most of the time. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. My feelings and desires change all the time and I am fickle and unstable in my own ways. But He is always here, always present with me, and always ready to pick up where we left off. He doesn’t shame me for ignoring Him or forgetting about Him, and He will never force me to do something I refuse to do. But He is ready to help me do the things I can’t on my own. Which is most things.
My hope for myself is so empty in comparison to the hope He has for me. When I try to design my own life and my days, there is no fulfillment. There is no meaning or purpose beyond my own. But when I allow His purposes to become mine, I am free.
Give up the dreams and the plans you have for yourself, and ask God what His plans are for you. I can assure you they are very, very good.
rhythms of grace 