Nothing happens by
chance.
God has laid out a plan for our lives, our biggest problem
is free will—we often get in the way and resist God. We were born in the time
and place where God wanted us to be. God does have a plan for you, though you
may never fully know what it is. That’s why we must truly die to self and allow
God to move us to where He wants us to be, and to be a reflection of Christ
here on earth.
Psalms 139:16 (ESV) Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in
your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
The problem we have is that we fight God and don’t allow His
perfect will in our lives. When we stop resisting and die to self, God will
begin to use us according to His plan. If we continue to live for ourselves and
resist God, He will use others to do what we should be doing. If He wanted to,
God could even raise up stones to fulfill His will.
Matthew 3:9 (ESV)
And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father,’ for I
tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
A good illustration comes from The Lord of the Rings.
At the end, Frodo could not throw the ring into the fire—it had consumed him
and taken him over. Gollum actually saved Frodo by biting off his finger and
falling into the fire with the ring. This could not have happened if Bilbo
Baggins had killed Gollum in The Hobbit. Bilbo chose mercy and
compassion for Gollum and let him live. I know this is only a fairy tale, but
it illustrates the point that our actions have consequences. We never know how
even the smallest of our actions could have major effects.
Consider the boy with five loaves of bread and two fish.
That morning, when he woke up to go see the rabbi teaching nearby, he had no
idea what impact he would have by letting Christ use what he had.
John 6:7-9 (ESV)
Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough
for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s
brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two
fish, but what are they for so many?”
Hebrews 13:1-2 (ESV)
Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
We may have no idea how something we’ve done or will do has
helped someone accomplish what God wants them to do. Just by giving someone gas
money or directions to where they were going, we may have helped them be
exactly where God wanted them to be, at the right time. So don’t think you need
to do something big to have a major impact for God.
To see my YouTube version of this click here.
ACPickens goat Ranch
The Shepherd's Place.
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