Do the Next Right Thing
Anybody else besides me ever wonder, "What IS God's plan for my life?"
I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I have prayed, out loud, to God, and carefully explained to Him that if He'd just give me a little insight into what "the plan" was, I'd be happy to help it along.
I'm serious, there have been times when I have expressed my great frustration with God about this whole thing.
Have any of you ever argued with God? I mean, successfully. You know...convinced Him that you had a plan, and if He'd just listen, you had the whole thing worked out, to the tiniest detail.
A good friend of mine, Cindy Hochart, has written a wonderful little book called, "Find Your Burning Bush". In this book, Cindy catalogs how she has, at times, attempted to ascertain God's path and plan for her life. Cindy is a wonderfully efficient Project Management Professional, and at times, she has approached this concept with typical PMP precision. She also acknowledges others who have shared their own process-improvement pathway for determining God's plan for their own lives.
I hope some of you will take the opportunity to read Cindy's book. I think you will find it an interesting exercise in this whole concept of trying to ascertain God's plan for your life.
Rick Warren did a whole study series on this, starting with his book, "The Purpose-Driven Life".
I must confess, Mr. Warren's book caused me a great deal of frustration. I simply didn't have any clue what my "purpose" was when I got done. And that just fed into my "fear of failure" and not measuring up syndrome. I mean, if I really, truly was "spiritual", I should have been able to figure out this whole purpose-driven life thing, right? I should have come out of that experience with intense, laser-like focus, renewed vigor, a certainty of calling.
Instead, I felt defeated. And of course, me being me, I started comparing myself to others. "He figured out what his purpose is, what's wrong with me that I can't figure it out?"
It took me a lot of years, but I finally decided to take this burden (along with all the rest of my burdens), and place it firmly at the foot of the Throne of God. "Take this, Lord. I don't know what to do with it, I can't figure it out, and the weight is killing me."
Anybody else ever prayed that? About anything? Yeah, me too. MANY times, with MANY situations.
And just like He always does, God takes my burden, and as soon as I LET GO of it, He shows me the right path. Or He opens a door. Or the right friend calls at just the right time saying just the right thing.
God doesn't need me to drive the car. You see, the problem with me is...I WANT to drive. I think I HAVE to drive. I think that's part of my job is to drive. Even if I'm sitting in the passenger's seat, I reach over and try to steer the vehicle of my life. And every single time I do that, I end up crashing.
But God wants us to surrender. He wants us to acknowledge that we need Him to manage our lives. We were created to serve and worship the Creator, not the other way around.
God doesn't need me to "figure out" the plan. Sure, I still have those days where I'd like to see a glimpse of what's up ahead. Because I'm sure if I knew, I could "help". But God doesn't need me to "help" His perfect plan. He just needs me to do the Next Right Thing.
You see, when I don't have a clue what the path is, or what the end of the road looks like, I can take great comfort in knowing this: I don't HAVE to know, because if I just do the Next Right Thing, everything will work out.
What's The Next Right Thing? You know what it is. It doesn't have to be anything big. Sometimes it's just something as simple as getting up, getting dressed and going to work. Why? Because that's the Next Right Thing. The most mundane task, the littlest expression, the slight smile and nod given to the stranger, the extra five minutes spent with your spouse...the Next Right Thing.
You see, I've found that if I take care of the little things, God takes care of the big things. I don't have to know what His plan is, I just have to do the Next Right Thing.
My two cents worth today.
I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I have prayed, out loud, to God, and carefully explained to Him that if He'd just give me a little insight into what "the plan" was, I'd be happy to help it along.
I'm serious, there have been times when I have expressed my great frustration with God about this whole thing.
Have any of you ever argued with God? I mean, successfully. You know...convinced Him that you had a plan, and if He'd just listen, you had the whole thing worked out, to the tiniest detail.
A good friend of mine, Cindy Hochart, has written a wonderful little book called, "Find Your Burning Bush". In this book, Cindy catalogs how she has, at times, attempted to ascertain God's path and plan for her life. Cindy is a wonderfully efficient Project Management Professional, and at times, she has approached this concept with typical PMP precision. She also acknowledges others who have shared their own process-improvement pathway for determining God's plan for their own lives.
I hope some of you will take the opportunity to read Cindy's book. I think you will find it an interesting exercise in this whole concept of trying to ascertain God's plan for your life.
Rick Warren did a whole study series on this, starting with his book, "The Purpose-Driven Life".
I must confess, Mr. Warren's book caused me a great deal of frustration. I simply didn't have any clue what my "purpose" was when I got done. And that just fed into my "fear of failure" and not measuring up syndrome. I mean, if I really, truly was "spiritual", I should have been able to figure out this whole purpose-driven life thing, right? I should have come out of that experience with intense, laser-like focus, renewed vigor, a certainty of calling.
Instead, I felt defeated. And of course, me being me, I started comparing myself to others. "He figured out what his purpose is, what's wrong with me that I can't figure it out?"
It took me a lot of years, but I finally decided to take this burden (along with all the rest of my burdens), and place it firmly at the foot of the Throne of God. "Take this, Lord. I don't know what to do with it, I can't figure it out, and the weight is killing me."
Anybody else ever prayed that? About anything? Yeah, me too. MANY times, with MANY situations.
And just like He always does, God takes my burden, and as soon as I LET GO of it, He shows me the right path. Or He opens a door. Or the right friend calls at just the right time saying just the right thing.
God doesn't need me to drive the car. You see, the problem with me is...I WANT to drive. I think I HAVE to drive. I think that's part of my job is to drive. Even if I'm sitting in the passenger's seat, I reach over and try to steer the vehicle of my life. And every single time I do that, I end up crashing.
But God wants us to surrender. He wants us to acknowledge that we need Him to manage our lives. We were created to serve and worship the Creator, not the other way around.
God doesn't need me to "figure out" the plan. Sure, I still have those days where I'd like to see a glimpse of what's up ahead. Because I'm sure if I knew, I could "help". But God doesn't need me to "help" His perfect plan. He just needs me to do the Next Right Thing.
You see, when I don't have a clue what the path is, or what the end of the road looks like, I can take great comfort in knowing this: I don't HAVE to know, because if I just do the Next Right Thing, everything will work out.
What's The Next Right Thing? You know what it is. It doesn't have to be anything big. Sometimes it's just something as simple as getting up, getting dressed and going to work. Why? Because that's the Next Right Thing. The most mundane task, the littlest expression, the slight smile and nod given to the stranger, the extra five minutes spent with your spouse...the Next Right Thing.
You see, I've found that if I take care of the little things, God takes care of the big things. I don't have to know what His plan is, I just have to do the Next Right Thing.
My two cents worth today.
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