Are you where God wants you to be?

This morning, the Bible verse on my Bible app was James 4:17.

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

What exactly does that mean? If we only looked at that verse, it can be just about anything we want it to be. For example, if we know we ought to take out the trash, and we don’t, that is a sin. If we know we ought to call our parents, and we don’t, then that is a sin. This can go on and on and on. We could even use it to get our kids to do the chores.

But, to truly understand verse 17, we need to read James 4:13-16. These verses focus on being too self-confident where we make our own plans instead of listening or following God’s plan. Basically, it is saying if you make your own plans, you better see them through, or you are sinning. I really like verse 14 stating, how in the world are we supposed to be planning for next year when we may not even know what tomorrow brings?

When we were all teenagers, someone may have asked us what our five-year goal or ten-year goal was. We may even do that now to others. What we should be asking is, what do you think God‘s goal for you is? Too often we focus on what we want and how we are going to achieve it. We may even tell God what our goal is and tell him, “Make it happen.” I’m sure God just chuckles at that. 

I want you to think for a moment about your life, your experiences, your pain, and your skills. You may think I have lost my mind in asking you to do this. What all of these have in common is that we can share them with others to bring them to the Lord. Too many people believe that they have to be perfect before they anre able to have a relationship with God and accept Jesus as their savior. That is so not true.

The greatest heroes in the Bible were fallible. The disciples were misfits. Many of the women of the Bible, who made an impact for the kingdom, were not perfect either. God can use our circumstances, our pain, our sorrows, our losses, our victories, our blessings, our strengths and weaknesses to further His purpose for all of us.

Far more often than I like, someone is commenting about my vision loss and that I should just stay home out of the way. I should not be participating in mission trips to other countries. I should not be working. I believe I would absolutely lose my mind if I had to stay within these four walls. Even though I do love my dogs and cats, they are not great conversationalists.

So, I ignore those who want to limit God‘s plan in my life. I do feel that God can use everyone, regardless of his or her age, disability, level of education, and wealth. Until the Lord tells me, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” I will keep on, keeping on.

Back to my question in the title. Are you where God wants you to be, or are you avoiding what he wants you to be? If life is not going how you planned it, did you involve God in the plan? Have you prayed to ask God for guidance in your life? Have you asked God to give you strength to get through the difficult times and to show you the path that you need to go o?. Many times, those paths are in a direction we never thought we needed to take, but they are necessary to save ourselves and maybe people in our lives.

If you are walking these extremely difficult roads, you are not alone. The Holy Spirit is there to guide you and protect you. You can also have those special friends to support you, pray for you, protect you, and walk with you. 

Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

The first step down a difficult road is the hardest, but it is the most important. The first step to accepting Christ as your Savior is to open your heart and say the words. The first step in changing your life to be what God wants you to be is looking up to Him and saying,”I am yours, Lord. Use me as you will.’

Take the first step.Let us be all that we can be for the glory of God. Amen.