GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR FUTURE: A CONFESSION OF FAITH

Stuff happens! There is a lot of stuff that happens! Some of that stuff is good stuff and some of it is bad stuff—but, it is for sure that our days are stuffed with stuff.

Viewed in isolation, we get tired of so much stuff. In particular, we don’t want the bad stuff. Sometimes the bad stuff seems to overwhelm what we call good stuff. That is where the child of God must not walk by sight but by faith—leaning on Scriptural promise rather than sensual perception—trusting not in human reason, but in heavenly revelation.

That is the Apostle Paul’s challenge to us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” We can only say that as a confession of faith because some of the stuff of life cannot be called good and doesn’t make much sense. But, God’s plan for your future is to take all the stuff of life, whether we see it as good or bad and work it together for our good—every single event that comes our way.

If I gave you a few cups of flour to eat, you wouldn’t enjoy it. Trying to get down a cup of shortening would gag you. Several cups of baker’s cocoa would be so bitter you’d spit it out. What if I stirred up a few raw eggs? Not many would want to swallow them. How about eating a stick of butter? I do have a daughter who would eat sticks of butter like candy bars when she was little. I won’t say Kasey’s name for fear of embarrassing her. No wonder she couldn’t keep her socks from sliding down! But, I digress. Maybe if you ingested a few cups of sugar, that would be ok—but even that much pure sugar might be sickening. Yet, to mix all that together and bake it in an oven is to get chocolate cake—yummy!

That’s how God will take some disappointments, discouragements, difficulties, detours, dead-ends and defeats and mix them with some sweeter times and bake it all in the oven of trials at just the right time and temperature—but the result is His good plan for your life. We may not understand God’s ways, but this is where faith comes in—we can confess our confidence in God’s plan. You can trust the omniscient Baker who does all things well! When the timer goes off, the heat is turned off and the door into heaven is opened—you will be like Jesus!