Many times in our lives most of us have probably prayed to God to do something in our life. When we were kids our prayers may have centered around the newest toy. However as we grow older the things on our prayer list changes drastically. Now, as adults our prayers may center around a new job, our parents health and different financial needs in our lives. One thing that we must all realize is that although we may think we need the things we pray for immediately, God has an ultimate plan and his plan is, was, and always will be perfect.
A little over three years ago, I was married but there were problems. At the time, I wasn't in church, and hadn't been for over 4 years. However, I still had faith in God, but wasn't living with God as the lord of my life. I prayed at the time for my marriage, however, in February of 2009, my marriage fell apart. This time in my life had the potential to be a very lonely time in my life. However, due to a wonderful family and good friends, I never felt alone. I remember one night in particular that I had been reflecting on my recent past and decided that night that I did not want another relationship unless it was one which would be a healthy relationship where both of us would be walking in the same direction. That night, I said a prayer asking God to take that burden, I asked that he bring someone else into my life when it is time according to his will.
I've told you this brief history to explain how perfect Gods timing has been in my life. Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-11. In this scripture it's very clear that in Gods will there is a time for everything in our life. When reading this scripture, I realize that there is absolutely no part of my life that God is not in control of. Granted, there are times that I "think" I am in control, but ultimately, God is controlling everything. Read Ecclesiastes 3:11:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
When I read this verse, the meaning that I got was that if we allow God to work in our lives he will make our lives beautiful. When we try to control our own lives without consideration to God it usually ends up much worse than what it would have been if we had stepped out of the way and allowed God to be the lord of our life.
Look at Psalms 37:4:
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart
As you can see from this verse, if we make God the lord of our life and follow his path, then he will do wonderful works in our lives. There are many times in our lives when we worry about things, when we pray over and over again for something that we think is important in our lives. A lot of times God may not answer the prayer, well He may answer, just not in the way that we want.
Proverbs 3:5 : Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
There are many times in our lives that we may ask Why is God doing this? Why is God allowing this to happen? I encourage you in those times to look back at Proverbs 3:5. We may not always if ever understand what God's will is for our lives. However, we can trust in the fact that God will always be there for us.
I will say though that I don't believe that God intends for us to just sit and wait on him to do things in our life. I think that we must in faith act, get your feet moving in the right direction. When praying for God to do something in your life begin to take steps toward that goal. Some of these steps may be huge steps of faith. Other times, it may be something simple. If you are praying for a new job, I don't think there is any of us out there that think that God will simply drop the new job in our laps. When praying for a new job, take the steps to search for that new job, go out and apply for those jobs, and trust in God to be your guide.
However I will mention that there are times in our lives that we think that we are ready for a change, but God still has a plan for us right where we are at. If you are pushing for a change in your life, praying for change, but nothing seems to happen, it may be that God still has a plan for your life where you are now. It may be wise to ask God to open your eyes in your current situation to any opportunities to serve him.
Now, back to how all of this lead to up perfect timing in my life, well in December of 2009, I was first introduced to who would become my wife. I will never forget the night I first met her. I had just gotten home from work, I mean I had just walked in the door, and a friend of mine called and a bunch of people were all headed to Athens to hang out. The friend mentioned my future wife and said that she was going through a bad time, and that her marriage was ending. Since I had just recently experienced the same thing in my life, I could identify with how she felt, and I knew myself on of the greatest things that got me through that time in my life was friends. During that evening I tried to talk with her some, but didn't push. After she left headed home that night I sent her a text, I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone and that if she ever needed anyone to talk to that I would be there to listen. Shortly after, we started hanging out, just talking about life and what had happened in each of our lives. The more we talked the more we realized how much we had in common. A love of reading was probably one of the biggest. In April of 2010 Allison invited me to go to church, and thus I was introduced to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. From the first service I knew that I had found a new church. The music was awesome, and the message encouraging. A few short months later we were married...in Vegas no less. I believe through our broken relationships that although it was a difficult time for both of us, God used this time to build us into stronger people. I may not be perfect now, but I know I've grown and am continuing to grow as a Christian.
To sum it all up, God has an ultimate plan for our live, called God's will. He will allow us to turn from his will, but it's only when we are putting our lives in line with God, is when God will move in our lives in wonderful ways.
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