Trust

Jer. 29:¹¹ “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (MSG).

Joseph cooperated, the shepherd’s celebrated, Mary contemplated, and the three wise men dedicated. To get positioned for blessings this Christmas, we must learn from these four categories of people that were rightly positioned at the first Christmas and were blessed. Yesterday, we discussed Joseph’s plans in detail and how he eventually had to let go of his plans to take hold of God’s plans. To get positioned and stay positioned for blessings this Christmas and beyond, you have to cooperate with God’s plans for your life even if they do not make sense. Are you cooperating with God’s plans or are you fighting God’s plans? Joseph cooperated. God has a plan for you, a plan for your life, for your family to cooperate with Him.

The reason we struggle most times is that we are not sure if we can trust God? If I cooperate fully will He not make me into a caricature, and I would have no fun in my life. What if He has a bad plan for me? What if God says I should go to a place I do not like? This challenge is because we do not know the heart of God. Jer. 29:¹¹ “I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” (NCV). God is saying to you and me, that He has a plan, and just in case you are wondering, it is a good plan. A plan that will give you a future and a hope. The Message Version of the Bible puts it this way, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

God wants you to know that He knows what He is doing. But most times, we want to be in charge of our lives. The fact that we do not know what God is doing does not mean that God does not know what He is doing. And because we do not know what God is doing, we struggle to follow God’s plan. But when we know God’s heart, it is easier for us to follow God’s plan even though we do not know what He is doing. Imagine a toddler is standing on the balcony of a high storey building and his father is on the ground floor of the same building. If the father says, ‘Jump, I will catch you’, the typical five-year-old will jump. Why? Dad says, ‘jump’ and I jump. Does the child know if his father can catch him? He will find out. The child will jump because daddy says so. But the challenge with a lot of us is we become big girls and big boys. So, when God tells us to jump, we get busy questioning Him, ‘Lord, are You sure?’

That is why God wants us to be like children with Him so that when He tells us to jump, like children, we jump. You do not have to understand what God is doing for you to trust that God knows what He is doing. Joseph cooperated with God. Therefore, to be positioned for blessings this season and beyond, you have to be like Joseph and cooperate with God.

Prayer [song]: My life is not my own. To You I belong (I give myself away). I give myself, I give myself to You (so You can use me). Amen!