Plan of God for my life

Many Christians wonder what God's will is for their lives.

Some already have a slight idea which they have sometimes received in prayer, others have desires which they would like to fulfil by spreading the Gospel.

But what all these people have in common is that they all would like to see coming to pass what God has planned for them.

So sometimes some will pray, some will read the Bible looking for an answer to their question.

It can happen that a person has, as I said before, an idea of what God has planned for them, but the problem for that person is that they don't see anything happening.

Whether it's one situation or another, whether you have an idea of what God wants you to do or whether you're still a bit in the dark, it's not unusual for me to see many Christians saying to themselves, "I have to do something. There must be something I have to do that I'm not doing". Or again: "I must pray for the opportunity to come, I will ask God to make the circumstances happen in my life so that His will for my life can come to pass". They feel that the solution lies in simple actions on their part.

But most of the time nothing happens, and these same Christians sit there waiting month after month, sometimes even year after year.

I would like to tell you in this regard that God does not need you to command the circumstances to happen in your life concerning the plan He has for you. God doesn't need your help nor does He need you to give the circumstances a helping hand. God makes a plan for the life of each of His children, and He is the One who takes care of the circumstances once all the conditions are met.

What are these conditions?

There is a fact that very few Christians have grasped in the plan God has for their lives. Very few have understood that they are the ones who have to make sure they are ready, not God. So yes of course there are moments that He sets in advance and He has no problem creating those moments, but we are talking about people who wonder why God's plan is not happening in their lives. Time passes and nothing happens.

There are even people who come to the end of their lives and die without having stepped into the plan that God had for them. This is unfortunately the case for the majority of people.

There are more such Christian people than there are people who enter into God's plan for their lives.

There is a component that many forget, or that many do not know. It is a subject that is taught all too rarely in most local churches. It is true that this subject does not attract many people, and this is partly why so few pastors teach it. There is also the fact that very few of them experience this kind of teaching from a personal point of view.

This is what the Apostle Paul says about our lives:

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This passage may seem a bit unclear to some, but it is the very key that will activate God's plan or will in our lives.

I have often seen people who, for example, thought that God intended them to teach the Bible. Then these same people begin to read the Bible in depth, to study the passages in the original languages, sometimes even enrolling in a Bible school.

I have also seen people who thought that God intended them for some kind of ministry, whether it be teaching, singing, or going on a mission in the world.

These people had understood that they needed to be trained, to learn more about the field in which they were to work. It is in itself a very good thing to understand that we need to be trained, to learn how to be efficient in everything we do.

But in spite of this, these people did not see God's will activated in their lives.

Let us return to this passage where Paul speaks to the Corinthians, but we will read it in another translation:

2 Corinthians 3:18 (TPT) We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

To put us back into context, Paul is explaining to the Christians of the city of Corinth that when we are born again, we have this image of a face uncovered. Indeed, the uncovered face symbolises the fact that we have a complete view of God's plan of salvation, which was to send a messiah and create a period of grace.

Paul is referring here to the passage from Exodus 34:33-34 where it is written that Moses put a veil over his face when he finished speaking to the people on behalf of God.

Paul says in this passage that when we are born again, we must be transformed in order to become more and more like God.

Paul says that the glory of God gradually becomes ours. The original word translated as 'glory' is in Greek DOXA.

This word certainly gives the notion of a glory, but also of an opinion, a judgement, a view.

Paul is therefore saying that when we are born again, the basis and the beginning of all things lies in finding this image of God in our inner person.

We need to be transformed in order to have the same opinions as God, to have the same judgments (in the sense of the same actions) as God, to have the same vision of things as God.

If you were the boss of a company, would you agree to hire people who would not have the same opinions about the company as you do? Would you agree to hire someone to represent you who would not have the same vision as you?

No way, I don't think so!

So why should we be surprised that God acts in the same way?

Again, many Christians think that this transformation is automatic. And this is where the problem lies.

Paul shows us here that the basis of our Christian life is an internal change that produces external effects.

So if you are wondering why you don't see God's plan at work in your life, chances are that you have to change within yourself.

If you are in this case, and reading this quick teaching, you say that it doesn't concern you, or that it is not the problem that prevents you from seeing God's plan being activated in your life, then this is a clear sign that you are concerned, but that you have not yet understood it.

God needs us to be able to change so that His glory will gradually become ours.

In a French version, Parole Vivante, Paul goes on to say: "It could not be otherwise". In other words, there is no other option if we want to experience our new birth.

Reading this passage we can get the impression that God does everything for us. Paul seems to be saying that it is God who transforms us, so in the end we will just have to wait for this to happen gradually.

But the Bible also shows us that God never does anything without our approval, He never does anything if we do not ask Him with faith, that is to say with full determination and assurance.

This is why we can see Christians all over the world who are not making progress in this area, wondering what is going on. They know that God has made a plan for their lives, they know that they have this or that activity or ministry ahead of them, but they don't see anything happening because they have not entered into a continuous inner transformation of their person.

If you think that you have done everything humanly, you have trained yourself in the field that awaits you, you have gained experience in various ways, you have thoroughly researched and learned about the subject of your future service... if you feel that you have reached a dead end, then there is a very good chance that you have skipped the stage of inner transformation.

Just because you've started to change inside doesn't mean you've necessarily arrived!

Remember that Paul talks about constant progress.

Take time with the Holy Spirit and ask Him what traits of your character need to change, your opinions, your judgments, your views.

Perhaps you need to acquire more humility, more temperance, more love for your neighbour, to abandon your ego, your resentment, your pride, to make your "self" die even more.

There are a whole multitude of aspects of life that need to be changed.

Some will rightly say: "Do we have to wait until we are perfect to enter into any kind of service for the Gospel?

Not at all!

For if that was the case, no one would serve God on earth.

But what is certain is that God needs certain qualities of His person in you so that you are able to carry out your service, your mission, successfully.

It is not that God absolutely wants optimal people to serve Him, but simply that He does not want to put us in a situation of failure on the one hand, and on the other hand, that we can achieve effective results so that the maximum number of people may enter the kingdom.

Your constant transformation according to God's pattern is the basis for all success according to what God has planned for you.

It could not be otherwise!

Bye for now…