We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are created to do and finish the course that God designed for us. His good plans for our lives were established before the foundation of earth. In Jeremiah chapter 1, God told Jeremiah that before he was formed in his mother’s womb, He knew him and approved him to be His chosen instrument. But Jeremiah didn’t see himself as God saw him. Gideon didn’t think he could carry out the assignment God had for him to do either (see Judges 6:1-16). He, like Jeremiah, gave a list of reasons why he couldn’t carry out the mission. However, God gave those men everything they needed; He gave Himself. I will be with thee.
Have you given God a list of reasons why you can’t do what He has asked you to do? Rethink your list—then get excited with hope and possibilities! Because it can be done, by the power of the Holy Spirit. (See previous post: Step-by-step Blueprints.)
Oh, the plans I have for you!
God not only sees who we are now, but who we can become. We would be utterly flabbergasted if we could perceive the supernatural feats, we could accomplish through Christ. Once we accept the fact that He doesn’t need our abilities to get His plans done, we’ll be more inclined to give our deficiencies over to His will; let Him infuse us with His power.
When the Holy Spirit puts an assignment in our hearts, He has already taken care of all the details like: all the wrong paths we would take; the dumb ideas we would get involved in; the crazy people we would let into our lives; and all the other challenges we would encounter along the way. Even still—He will call us to the frontline to represent Him.
Our strength comes from the Lord.
If we think we can’t do God’s plans on our own, we are absolutely correct. Our help comes from the Spirit within us; not by any outside sources. We must use our faith because it’s not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God to see us through (see Zechariah 4:6).
Our adversary, the devil, made plans for our lives, too. His aim, in the process of trying to kill us, is to distract us from our godly assignments by overwhelming us with burdens. He wants us to feel trapped and downtrodden with a defeatists outlook on life. But in Zechariah, we’re instructed not to go it alone, but to lean on the Holy Spirit.
It’s natural to feel tired at times—taking a break to relax is healthy. However, it’s a different matter when you find yourself in this broken state for long periods of time; unable to get anything accomplished. That’s when you know you are being purposefully discouraged from being all that you were created to be. If this describes you, ask God to help you to live up to your full potential and finish your mission(s).
© 2019
See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.