Encouragement

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God Has a Plan for You
How Do I Know?
God is a planner. He planned the universe. That is why it is so ordered, magnificent, wonderful, breath taking- perfect for the habitation of man. Read the account of creation. He created the environment in which to place man and when that was completed, he created Adam and Eve. Gen. 1, Gen.18:17 NLT, Isa.5:19 NIV, Amos 3:7NIV, 1 Chro.28:19NLT, Isa 46:10NLT, -53:10NLT, Micah 4:12 NLT
When Adam fell God had a redemption plan. That plan was that God the Son would come to be the ransom, the sacrificial Lamb to rescue man, buy back man from the slave-market of sin. He had a plan as to when that incarnation would take place and in the fullness of time Jesus was born and born of a virgin according to the plan. That was the only way he could qualify. Only the sinless could take away the sin of man.
God had a plan for very individual. No one is an accident including you.
He had a plan for Moses- to bring the children of Israel out from the House of Bondage, slavery, Egypt. And so regardless of the circumstances of Moses’ birth, He protected him, even took care of Moses in the house of Pharaoh, who wanted to kill him.
Moses grew up to understand God’s plan for his life but ran ahead of God by killing an Egyptian who was maltreating his kit and kin. Not long after those he was protecting wanted to expose him and for fear of his life he ran away to a foreign country. He was in hiding until he was 80 and when he had mellowed down, God came to him and his ministry began. He thought it was over for him but God’s plans could not be stopped. Moses resisted initially, giving excuses: ‘I cannot speak well.’
Eventually when God gave him a partner – Aaron, he obliged.
Moses led millions of Israelites out of Egypt. It was a difficult assignment, but the grace of God carried him through. Moses did not enter the Promised Land. He disobeyed God when told to speak to a rock to bring forth water. He was angry, at the end of his tethers at that time; it was a serious matter to God. We are told that that rock was a type of Christ. On an earlier occasion the rock had been struck once and striking it again was like crucifying Christ twice.
However we also know that the Promised Land was like our new life in Christ and Moses who represented the Law would not have taken the people in. Joshua -a type of Christ was raised to take them into the Promised Land.
It was God’s plan that Joshua takes the people into the Promised Land and that was what happened.

God had a plan for various servants of His. He told Jeremiah: 4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Jeremiah complained like Moses, telling the Lord he was a child, but God was not having any excuses. He told him:
9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

He had a plan for Paul, although he was destroying the Church for a while, but God was gradually edging him into the brink of His kingdom. In the fullness of time, God arrested him on the road to Damascus. His physical eyes were blinded for a while but his spiritual eyes were opened for the first time. The Lord told him what to do thenceforth.
Ananias was intimated what had happened and the plan God had for Saul, now Paul.

10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.
11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
13"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
Paul found out God’s plan for his life, gave himself to it, separated himself and prepared for it soon after he came to know the Lord. He transferred the same zeal he had when he persecuted the disciples into the work of the Lord. He suffered a great deal just as the Lord had predicted, but he persevered and pressed on to the end. He was mightily used of the Lord to spread the Gospel, build churches, wrote 13 best sellers of all time that have stood the test of time and still a great blessing to us today. His attitude was one of humility and excellence to the glory of God.
Defending himself before King Agrippa Paul himself reiterated God’s plan for his life:
1Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defence: 2"King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defence against all the accusations of the Jews, 3and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4"The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. 6And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. 7This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. 8Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
12"On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'
" 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' Acts 26:1-18
At the end of his life he had this to say:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

David knew that God knew him even before he was born and had record of all his days before any one of them came into being. It is the same for you and I.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.( Psalm 139:15-16)NIV

What type of plan does He have for me?
God has a good, great, wonderful, and amazing plan for you. It is the best plan you could ever have. He always has your best interest at his heart. He so loves you that he sent His best Jesus, to come and die for you. We are told in Romans chapter 8, that if he did not withhold Jesus but delivered him up for us, how shall he not with him also freely give all things?


How Do I Know?

In Jeremiah 29: 11-13 we are told:
11 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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

How Do I know the plan he has for me?
You can only know God’s plan for your life if you seek Him with all your heart. The first step is to know Him in a personal way through Jesus Christ. However knowing in a personal way does not mean you automatically know His plan for your life. You must dedicate yourself to him in prayer and worship and find out why he gave life to you, your purpose on earth, because you have an assignment and a destiny.

What is the plan He has for me?
When you find God’s plan for your life, you will know it. That is where you will have fulfilment. Any other place will leave you empty, longing for reality and famished, like a fish out of water.

Is God’s plan always easy?
Definitely not, there is always a price to pay. Jesus suffered, Paul suffered, Jeremiah suffered. There will be obstacles, but God has a way of using those obstacles as pruning knives to make us bear more fruit to His glory if we yield to Him. His grace is sufficient for you and in your weakness or infirmities His strength will be made perfect.

What Do I Do About It?
Like Paul, when you have found your dream, pray about it, give yourself to it, prepare yourself for it, go for it, keep focused on it, do it, fulfil it to the glory of God.

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