Giving in to God’s Plan

HI everyone, welcome back for round 2 of Tanner’s thoughts. This time I would like to talk about giving in to God’s authority. Last time I wrote a bit about how I was feeling called to trust in God and His calling for my life. Trust is one thing but acting on it is another entirely. Once we have faith in the Lord and have put our trust in Him we need to act on this faith. God wants you to trust Him but He wants even more for you to act in the purpose of His calling for your life. “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:18

Last time we talked about overcoming anxiety by developing a relationship with God and realizing we live to serve Him. The first step of overcoming anxiety if you remember is to seek God and surrender to Him. This is the foundation of our faith. Once we have developed that faith in Him we must trust Him and follow Him into our calling. One of my favorite stories from the Bible is about just this. It is the story of Gideon in the book of Judges. In Judges, Gideon is from the smallest tribe of Israel and is the youngest brother of his family. He is the least likely candidate for being used by God but God had big plans for His life and called Him to do major things in His name. In Gideon’s story we see him put God to the test time and time again when at first He does not trust that he can be used for God’s glory. The Lord answers these tests and builds Gideon’s trust in Him. Once God has convinced Gideon he is trustworthy the Lord calls him to work for him against extreme odds. Gideon is called to prepare for a war so he raises up a massive army for the Lord to use. However God has different plans and tells Gideon to send the majority of his army home so that God can get the credit for defeating the enemy. Gideon trusts in God’s plan and acts on this trust by sending away his men. When it is all said and done Gideon has only 300 warriors in his army to face his enemy with over 135,000 soldiers. The Lord gives Gideon a vision in a dream the night before he is to go to battle and lays out his plan for the ensuing war. Again Gideon trusts the plan of the Lord and acts on this trust despite insurmountable odds. The enemy ends up being confused thinking they are surrounded and they wind up fighting and killing each other in their confusion and Gideon is given the victory over the enemy thanks to his trusting in Gods plan. (Judges 6-7 paraphrased)


So how does this story of war and ancient times correspond to our life today? Well I don’t know what trusting God will look like in your personal life but I can tell you a story of what it looks like in mine. Recently as you know God called me to the international mission field, but this did not come without my own hesitations. Much like Gideon I called out to God and asked Him to “prove” to me that he was calling me to leave my job, home, family, and small little town to go and pursue his purpose for my life. In a very short 48 hours he showed me time and time again that I was to go on this mission trip and trust His plan for my life. But now it turns out that not only has he asked me to go on this trip He has also called me to move out of my home early and work my job almost until the time that I am to leave. Both of these things would seem to be counter productive to my preparations for this mission trip but I am choosing to trust in God and watch Him provide for me in ways that I can not imagine. When we face crushing odds in the name of forwarding the kingdom He promises to lift us up to heights we could not obtain on our own. This requires trusting in Him and taking action when the time comes! That is why recently when my pastor’s house burnt down and they reached out to me to ask if they could rent my house while I was on my mission trip the Lord said “why make them wait? Lets move you out now, get to work we have a lot to accomplish.” And just like that the Lord was calling me to trust in His provision and walk in faith that He was planning something bigger for my life. Wednesday night my pastors house burnt to the ground and Saturday afternoon they were able to move into my house, their new home for the next year. Does this present its own challenges for my life? Absolutely! But did the Lord call me to trust Him and watch Him prosper me in my upcoming mission? I am even more certain of this! As a result of this certainty that the Lord is at work I have felt peace and pure joy seeing my pastor’s family be safe and able to relax and have a place of their own, and the Lord has been providing for me in major ways as well! When we give God our earthly resources for life it forces Him to provide for us and be a God of His word.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 25-26

The bible tells us that God will provide for us, once we trust him we must start to let His will make decisions for us in life so that we may benefit Him to the best of our abilities. He operates beyond our comprehension and understanding, we should all want Him to be in the driver seat of our lives. Again I recall one of my favorite verses, I may just include this in every blog post I write as it has been so comforting to me:

“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.” Jeremiah 29:11

A big part of submitting to God’s will is trusting that what He has in store for our future is better than what we have in store for our future. He says plans to prosper, which means He wants us to succeed and has a brighter future planned for us than we do for ourselves. Material things are fleeting and they do not offer lasting joy. Trusting in God’s plan for our lives and blindly acting on the calling He puts on our life is our source for peace and prosperity while here on earth. This requires us to lean on Him and not our own understanding, to truly and wholeheartedly put our trust in Him. When we are obedient to Him and actively listening, looking and discerning for how we can trust Him with more of our resources He promises to take those sacrifices and multiply them beyond our understanding. We should always be seeking areas in our life that we can surrender to God so that He can take that sacrifice and use it for His glory. We are made to honor Him and advance His kingdom and nothing makes our father happier than laying down our own desires in order to fulfill His will.