Stay in God's Plan and Timing - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) July 28, 2023

The Bible makes it clear that every person was known to God even before they entered their mother's womb to be born on the earth. The Bible also mentions that each person is predestined for a purpose God has determined. With that in mind, it is crucial to have some idea of what God's plan is for our lives. The lack of such knowledge can have damning effects, leading people to make choices for themselves and others that create problems instead of solutions.

However, just as it's important to understand God's purpose for your life, it is equally imperative to have a sense of God's timing of the plans He has for your life, so you can remain within it. The experiences of Jesus Christ give us some insight into how much we need to remain within both God's plan and His timing for us.

When satan attempted to tempt Christ in the wilderness, it made three requests. One of them, however, was a thinly veiled attempt to get Jesus to step out of God's plan for His life and ministry. It is contained in Matthew 4:6 - "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Although it seems satan wanted Jesus to prove He was the Son of God, in actuality, the request was a bid to get Jesus to put His life into His own hands. That was never God's plan for His Son. Nor was it the Son's plan for Himself. In all things, He was submissive to God the Father. John 5:30 - “I can do nothing on my own initiative or authority. Just as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just (fair, righteous, unbiased), because I do not seek My own will, but only the will of Him who sent Me (AMP). Obedient to a fault, whereby He even endured torture, disrespect, and death because that was God's plan for Him. At no point was the plan for Jesus to jump off a mountain so as to satisfy the whims of the devil. Now, imagine if Jesus had fallen for that stunt? Imagine if he'd succumbed to the pride satan wanted him to feel and thus had done what satan wanted so as to prove He was the Son of God? I shudder at the thought.

Jesus also paid attention to God's timing for His life. At the wedding where wine ran out, His mother asked Him to take care of the problem. His initial response, however, was “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4). Yet, to honor His earthly mother, He obeyed her request and promptly turned water to wine so great, the Master of Ceremony gushed over how good it was. The Bible further highlights the importance of God's timing in Jesus's life in John 7 when He taught at the temple courts during the Feast of Tabernacles. The rabbis and people were incensed that He would assert He was God's Son, and they seized Him in order to kill Him. However, we are told in verse 30, "but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come."

Each of us must seek the face of the Lord to learn His plan for our lives. We must also focus on His timing, desiring that His plan happen at the pace He selects. In this way, we shall achieve the prize God has in store for us. We must also be open to God's plan and timing for our family life, our work life, for the lives of our children. He told us to ask in Matthew 7:7, for those who ask will receive, and what better question is there than to know what God wants each of us to accomplish on this earth? He promised to answer us when we ask Him questions in Jeremiah 33:3 and He committed, in Philippians 2:13, to help His children do the very things that are pleasing to Him.

Today is the day to inquire of God as to His plans for your life. Today is the day to submit to those plans and His timing. May the good Lord help us all, IJMN, Amen.