Intersection or Stream
Acts 2
Today, we develop some traction. Today, we start to see where this whole having an altered future gets messy.
See, we spent day 1 laying the foundation that God has a perfect will for our lives. Yesterday, we focused on our plan for our lives. However, we have to be quick to realize that sometimes our plans and God's will do not match up. Frequently, they're not even in the same zip code. Then what?
So many people are pleased to live their lives looking for a couple of moments in time where God's will and our plans intersect. And it happens, almost by accident. We're doing our own thing and a natural turn of events in our lives brings us a moment of connectivity with our Creator that makes us feel really good. We try to live off of those temporary highs when we know that we stumbled across something that was in God's plan.
Years ago, I read Experiencing God. One of the principles I remember from that book is that God is always at work around us, in every generation. He is constantly a stream that is moving. To relate that to the previous paragraph. I live my life. I'm out for a stroll. Every once in a while I cross that stream and it is so refreshing, but then I keep going. Walking away from that stream.
For others, it's simply that they see the stream, but it's flowing a little too quickly. They're comfortable to get their toes wet, but they're not ready to risk everything just yet. They're not willing to dive into the depths of God's will. It's risky. It might change your life. And that's scary.
My whole life, I wanted to be a Gator. That was my plan, and I set out to achieve that goal. In 1995 I got there. I transferred from SPJC to UF. My parents came up for parent weekend and my dad told me how proud he was of me. A month later, I had to sit my parents down and tell them I was leaving UF.
God had altered my plans.
My whole life, I couldn't wait to be on campus. I had always been a Gator fan, but when I was 10 years old a friend (and his grandparents) took me to my first football game at Florida Field. I was hooked. I couldn't wait to get there. But God had other ideas. At UF, He started to work on me about being called into ministry. when I finally surrendered, He laid out a plan for me to transfer back and finish my degree at CCC.
Totally altered. Ruined (the plans that is).
But the stream I was about to enter was so much better than anything I had ever experienced. The group of friends I developed at CCC are lifelong friends that are a constant source of encouragement and accountability. The professors blew me away. The environment is just what I needed. I had entered the stream, but it was years later that I was able to dive into that stream without fear.
God wants to alter your future. Sometimes that means throwing away every plan of what you want to become. For years, I though my future was to be a lawyer...later a journalist. But God had other plans. And by the way, if you haven't picked up on it yet, I love what I do.
This is not to say that when we dive into God's will that everything will be easy. Some of you experience that yesterday. Heck, I experienced that yesterday. The current is fast, there are some rocks in the way, some of our traveling companions might not be all that different. But the stream is refreshing.
Today we develop traction. Today we ask the tough question: Is our plan totally in tune with where God is moving? If not, and I'm only speaking from experience on this one, but if not, your life will never develop the purpose you're looking for. God has a perfect plan for your life. It's when you discover that plan that God develops in you a sense of purpose, and joy, and peace.
Discover it. And dive in.
Today, we develop some traction. Today, we start to see where this whole having an altered future gets messy.
See, we spent day 1 laying the foundation that God has a perfect will for our lives. Yesterday, we focused on our plan for our lives. However, we have to be quick to realize that sometimes our plans and God's will do not match up. Frequently, they're not even in the same zip code. Then what?
So many people are pleased to live their lives looking for a couple of moments in time where God's will and our plans intersect. And it happens, almost by accident. We're doing our own thing and a natural turn of events in our lives brings us a moment of connectivity with our Creator that makes us feel really good. We try to live off of those temporary highs when we know that we stumbled across something that was in God's plan.
Years ago, I read Experiencing God. One of the principles I remember from that book is that God is always at work around us, in every generation. He is constantly a stream that is moving. To relate that to the previous paragraph. I live my life. I'm out for a stroll. Every once in a while I cross that stream and it is so refreshing, but then I keep going. Walking away from that stream.
For others, it's simply that they see the stream, but it's flowing a little too quickly. They're comfortable to get their toes wet, but they're not ready to risk everything just yet. They're not willing to dive into the depths of God's will. It's risky. It might change your life. And that's scary.
My whole life, I wanted to be a Gator. That was my plan, and I set out to achieve that goal. In 1995 I got there. I transferred from SPJC to UF. My parents came up for parent weekend and my dad told me how proud he was of me. A month later, I had to sit my parents down and tell them I was leaving UF.
God had altered my plans.
My whole life, I couldn't wait to be on campus. I had always been a Gator fan, but when I was 10 years old a friend (and his grandparents) took me to my first football game at Florida Field. I was hooked. I couldn't wait to get there. But God had other ideas. At UF, He started to work on me about being called into ministry. when I finally surrendered, He laid out a plan for me to transfer back and finish my degree at CCC.
Totally altered. Ruined (the plans that is).
But the stream I was about to enter was so much better than anything I had ever experienced. The group of friends I developed at CCC are lifelong friends that are a constant source of encouragement and accountability. The professors blew me away. The environment is just what I needed. I had entered the stream, but it was years later that I was able to dive into that stream without fear.
God wants to alter your future. Sometimes that means throwing away every plan of what you want to become. For years, I though my future was to be a lawyer...later a journalist. But God had other plans. And by the way, if you haven't picked up on it yet, I love what I do.
This is not to say that when we dive into God's will that everything will be easy. Some of you experience that yesterday. Heck, I experienced that yesterday. The current is fast, there are some rocks in the way, some of our traveling companions might not be all that different. But the stream is refreshing.
Today we develop traction. Today we ask the tough question: Is our plan totally in tune with where God is moving? If not, and I'm only speaking from experience on this one, but if not, your life will never develop the purpose you're looking for. God has a perfect plan for your life. It's when you discover that plan that God develops in you a sense of purpose, and joy, and peace.
Discover it. And dive in.