May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
Psalm 20: 4
The Yiddish proverb “Mensch tracht, un Gott lacht” (“Man plans, and God laughs”), is attributed to 18th‑century author Sholem Aleichem, who often explored fate, humor, and the human condition in Eastern European Jewish life[i]
I don’t see much changed over the centuries. We still make plans, but if those plans are not in God’s providential knowledge of what will bring His glory and our good, I suppose He does laugh.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29: 11
God does, however, give us hopes and aspirations to make certain plans and aim for goals in our daily lives and Christian walk. If we are in a right relationship with the Lord, those objects of our hopes will be in sync with what God wants for us. But how can we know for certain?
What is God’s genuine calling in contrast to our personal desire? For example: you love to cook, and your church is looking for people to provide meals for shut-ins; you can play the piano, and your church is looking for someone to accompany the children’s choir; you love to read, and your church is looking for someone to visit nursing homes. The list goes on with your skills and desires attached.
The bullet points below are based on The Bible Hub website: [ii]
[iii]
- God does initiate a calling:
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
John 15: 16
But how can I know if this is just some whim of my imagination and not God’s direction?
- The Bible is our source to lead us into what God’s will is for us:
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Psalm 119: 105
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness …
2 Timothy 3: 16
But does God actually give us a nudge in the direction He wants us to go?
- The Holy Spirit gives us a growing conviction of how we can be involved in God’s plans in some specific area of need:
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8: 16-17
What if I sign up for something, and then after I think about it, I wonder if God really wants someone else?
- Our burden or passion isn’t here today and gone tomorrow, but a sustained, holy desire to serve Him in a specific, perhaps, seasonal a ministry:
I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 2: 12
Can I always expect to reap satisfaction when I serve, even if no one has responded to the gospel?
- The work bears God’s unmistakable signature, when the worker may not see objective result, but their own personal growth in grace, or an encouragement to another.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
John 15: 8
- Your personality and gifts are aligned with the specific call to serve:
The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship …
Exodus 31: 1-3
This is all well and good, but … But what about roadblocks to get us off the track and to wallow in disappointment? There may be three things in the way to derail our forward journey into His plans:
- We get distracted by some worldly concern. Think of Demas, one of the Apostle Paul’s ministry companions, or even church leaders today, who turn away from the faith:
For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
2 Timothy 4: 10
- God tests us, but never tempts us, to see if our commitment is in tune with His perfect will:
You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not”
Deuteronomy 8: 2
- Satan, by God’s permission, may attempt to stop you from following through on your commitment:
And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Job 1: 12
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
James 1: 13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
I Corinthians 10: 13
Challenge:
Ask God to show you how you can serve Him. If you believe God has called you to a certain ministry, pray about the possibility of such service, study the scripture regarding His calls, and, perhaps, expect roadblocks along the way.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us to follow Your direction in Your overall plan of the ages and to willingly serve You as you lead us. For those who read this who may never have trusted You for their eternal hope of salvation, lead them to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in faith repenting. We pray in His name.
Amen
Promise:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 43: 2
All Scripture taken from the English Standard Version (ESV)
[i] Yiddish sayings and quotes _Sayings Collection
[ii] https://biblehub.com/
[iii]https://static.wixstatic.com/media/809e3a_2661631ca446482b82b912d0894cef32~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_949,h_1000,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/809e3a_2661631ca446482b82b912d0894cef32~mv2.jpg
