We were created for a purpose. We were designed to meet a specific void in the earth, and so, our life is not our own. Even in the absence of this revelation, God has always had a plan for our lives. But apart from a relationship with Him, we live striving to achieve our version of success. We live to satisfy a void that is insatiable apart from His plan. His plan is perfect. His plan fulfills His purpose and our desires to live in purpose at the same time. And this is a plan that He wishes to reveal to us, as we grow in our relationship with Him. So, He speaks to us. He puts desires in our hearts that are beyond us. He gives us a vision for a future, and we are left with a choice. Do we believe Him, and trust Him to bring His plan to fruition? Or do we agree with our circumstances and the logic of the world around us? Because the world will tell us about the odds against us, but our heavenly Father reminds us that He is sovereign over all.
Before we were born, He chose us.
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT)
You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. (John 15:16 NLT)
For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. (John 6:44 NLT)
We are here on purpose, as a result of His sovereign plan. Nothing happens by chance. We are where He desires us to be, at this point in time, seeking Him. And we can only seek Him because He first called us. He has always been there, drawing us closer to Himself. He’s seen our past; He knows our present; and still, He wants us. He desires to use our lives, all of it, for His glory. Regardless of what we’ve been through, when we come into a relationship with Him, we become a new creation. Scripture says that our old lives pass away, because through His grace, we are made new.
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)
When we encounter God, everything changes.
As the providence of God works in the earth, He orchestrates meeting places with us. He positions us at the right place at the right time, creating the perfect environment to speak to us. Sometimes He uses our trials and other circumstances to draw us closer to Himself. Sometimes He uses those around us to speak His word into our lives. And other times, He stops us dead in our tracks, while we are on our way to live the life that we desire. He shakes up our plans, and gives us a new perspective on life. He gives us the desires of our hearts, so that our desires meet with His. He changes us, and mold us into who we were always supposed to be.
Throughout the bible we see examples of how lives were changed when people came into relationship with God. When we encounter Abraham, we see that God calls him, and tells him to leave his native country to go to the place that He would show him. God changed his name, and made him the father of many nations. Abraham is know as the first Hebrew patriarch.
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3 NLT)
We can see this in the life of Moses. He grew up as the prince of Egypt; he was raised to be a leader; he was groomed in the manner of royalty. But later in life, he found out that it would all be used for the glory of God. Moses didn’t know that his purpose was to be a vessel in the hands of God. Although Moses knew that he was favored from birth, he had no idea that God had a plan to use him to bring His promise to past. Moses’ faith and obedience resulted in the freedom of the Hebrew nation.
Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:9-10 NLT)
If we fast forward to the New Testament, we see how God changed the lives of the disciples. All of which were called to leave their previous lives behind to follow Jesus. In the case of Peter and his brother Andrew, Jesus told them that He would use their experience for His glory. They made their living catching fish, but He told them that He would make them a fisher of men.
Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Matthew 4:19 NLT)
These brothers probably thought that they would spend the rest of their lives as fishermen. They had no idea that they would encounter Jesus, and that they would take part in spreading the gospel. But when they met Jesus, everything changed.
The transformation of Saul to Paul is the perfect illustration of what takes place after an encounter with Jesus.
Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink. (Acts of the Apostles 9:1-9 NLT)
Paul was walking a road of his own choosing; he was doing what was right in his own eyes. But when he encountered Jesus, everything changed. Jesus stopped him dead in his tracks. Jesus called him out of darkness, and showed him His light. He changed Paul’s perspective on life. Jesus revealed the truth to Paul. Jesus revealed who He is, and who He created Paul to be. This is what it means to have a relationship with Him. We can not walk with Christ without being changed. Paul probably thought that his destiny was to persecute followers of Jesus, but he had no idea that he was actually persecuting his Savior. Jesus changed Paul’s focus. Jesus showed Paul the reason he was here on the earth. And Jesus intends to reveal this to us, as we walk with Him.
Paul’s transformation is by far the most amazing to me. He went from killing people, to preaching the gospel. Paul is responsible for a large portion of the New Testament. His life is a testament to the fact that there is nothing impossible for our God. There is nothing to hard for Him. If God can transform Paul’s life, He can transform ours. And He can do it all, in an instant. All He needs is for us to agree with Him, as did Paul. Paul did not delay his obedience; he did not consult the opinions of others. He confidently walked in the authority that God had given him.
But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus. (Galatians 1:15-17 NLT)
We are all so fascinated by Paul’s story. He is a man that seems larger than life. We read about his transformation, and we are in awe of what God did in his life, but maybe we don’t have the belief that He can do the same for us? And that’s understandable. It’s hard to fathom the wonders of God. But we have to understand that Paul’s life is a template for the rest of us. Through his life, God is showing us how He makes the impossible, possible. Why do you think that He used someone like Paul to spread the gospel to the gentiles? Surely, He had other options besides a murderer. He could have chosen anyone. So, we have to understand that He loves working in impossible situations, because this is how His glory is spread throughout the earth.
God sees our impossible situations as opportunities to bring glory to His name.
We’ve established that God chose us before we were born; we’ve established that He has always had a plan for our lives. And we’ve established that His plan is to use our lives to bring glory to His name. But, if God is going to get the glory out of our lives, we have to understand that it will be through His power, and not our own.
Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. (Zechariah 4:6 NLT)
God empowers us to carry out His plan.
It is only through the mighty power of God that we can do anything. And Paul understood this principle. He knew that he was not good enough. He knew that he did not have what he needed to walk in the will of God, but Paul trusted that with God, all things are possible.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” (Matthew 19:26 NLT)
If we are to walk in the plan of God, we have to know that He is able. We have to stand in our faith that He can move mountains, but that is not enough. We also have to allow His strength to shine through us. We don’t just want to know that God is powerful; we want to experience His power in our lives. We don’t just want to read about the transformations of Abraham, Moses, the disciples, and Paul; we want to be able to speak of the transformation that took place inside of us. We want to be used by Him. We want to be empowered.
Empowerment comes through submission.
This is how we allow the power of God to shine in our lives. This is how we allow Him to use our story for His glory. Because if we look at our circumstances, if we look at what we have, and compare that to God’s plan, we will soon find out that we are not enough. And this can be discouraging, unless we realize that our strength comes from what we don’t have.
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)
These are the words of Paul. This is how he was able to live a life of the impossible. He submitted his weaknesses to God. And through his submission, he allowed his deficiencies to become his strengths. He turned his negatives into positives. The truth is that our abilities don’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether or not we are qualified. It’s doesn’t matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done. Because when we meet with Him, everything changes. He calls us, and gives us a new name. He renews us with His Spirit; He gives us the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13 NLT)
It might not seem like it, when you look around at your circumstances, but He is working in you right now. He does not intend for you to live the life that you’ve mapped out for yourself; He has so much more planned for you, in spite of your past. And all you have to do is agree with Him. All you have to do is say yes to his plan, and believe that He will bring it to past, through His Spirit that works in you. And as you wait on the fullness of His plan, cast every care on Him. Submit every weakness, and disadvantage, to Him, and His grace will do the rest. He caries the burdens of His children, and gives them the ability to live in peace and joy. He will safely bring you to the place that He has for you. Trust in His strength, not your own.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me enough to send your Son to die on a cross for me. Thank you for reminding me that through my faith in Jesus, I have been given a new life. I have been given an opportunity to leave my life behind, and to walk in the plan that you have for me. And this new life is a free gift that you have given to me. There is nothing I can do to earn it, and there is nothing that I can do to make you take it away. You know me father, you know my past, and still, you chose me. Still, you pursued me. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for designing me in your image, and for creating me to bring you glory. Today, I choose to live my life for you. I choose to leave my past behind, and I am making the decision to allow your Spirit to work in me and through me. I know that as I submit my weaknesses to You, you will give me the desire and the ability to do what pleases you. My strength is in you alone. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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