"Here am I. Send me!"

I have plans for my life. I'm sure everyone does. My plan has always been to get married shortly after graduating from college, find a good job with decent pay, buy a nice house before later having kids (potentially). Oh, and I want a Ferrari, but that might be a bit excessive. All of that doesn't sound too bad, right? That's not too much to ask for. I like to think I have my life planned out pretty well. I want to live near my parents and my sister and her husband. I want to have some animals, maybe horses, a dog and a cat. After a few years, I'll have children - two boys. I mean, this all sounds pretty normal. Ask just about anyone, and they will give you a similar story. 

However, although there is nothing wrong with what I have planned for my life, in the end, it's not my call. I don't get to decide what is going to happen with me after graduation. I might get married, and I might not. In church today, this verse was brought up: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." ~ Proverbs 16:9. I have my life planned out, but God is the One determining what I do with my life. 

For some people, this is out of the question. American culture preaches individuality. You are your own person. You make your own decisions. You can do whatever you want with your life. You are strong and independent, and you don't need anyone besides yourself. You can make it on your own. For someone growing up with this mindset, it is extremely hard to just hand the reins over to God and say, "All right, God. Here's my life, You do with it what You please." 

But isn't that what Christians are called to do? Our lives are not our own. We have been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, and ultimately, He's the one in control. I won't lie... sometimes it is really hard for me to acknowledge that. I am the kind of person who wants things to be done my way. I was never good at working on group projects because I always felt that the project could be done better if I had just done it myself. So in all honesty, it's not easy for me to give up control of my life. I mean, after all, I have dreams and goals. There are things that I want to accomplish, places I want to go, people I want to be with. And while God's plan may line up with mine, I have to be willing to accept that there is the chance that God is going to call me to something else. 

I went to Peru this past summer, and when I returned, I had a lot of people asking if I would ever go back. I would always tell them, absolutely. It was such a beautiful place with great people. I would love to go back. Then I would always get those people who would say something like, "Well who knows? Maybe God is calling you to be a missionary there." Whoa. Hold up. No one said anything about being a missionary. 

I got to thinking, though. What if that is God's plan for my life? What if He has called me to be a missionary somewhere in the world? What if I am meant to leave my comfort zone  with my family, my friends and everything that is familiar? At this point in my life, I don't feel called to do that, but that could easily change. God is ordering my steps, and I need to be prepared for anything. 

The biggest thing to keep in mind, though, is that God is not going to call you to do something you are unequipped for. He will give you the tools and the training to accomplish His purposes. Also, He is not going to make you miserable. Wherever He sends you, whatever He has you doing, it will feel so right. It will feel so rewarding and so purposeful. 

There's a saying that I have written on my mirror in my dorm room. "God's plans are better than my dreams." I look at this daily because I constantly need to be reminded of this. No matter what my dreams are, God's plan is better. FAR better. Even if I don't end up rich, even if I don't have the house or car of my dreams, even if I don't get married, whatever God has in store for me will be so much greater. When you are fully engaged in serving the Lord and doing what He has for you, the material things of this world become second-best. They tend to lose their importance in our eyes. Sure, we may still want those things, but they are vital to our success. We understand that our lives can be rewarding even without them. 

We can all learn from the prophet Isaiah, who, when commissioned by God, immediately said, "Here am I. Send me!" This is easier said than done. I tell God that I am prepared for whatever He has in store for me, but if tomorrow He called me to serve in the mission field, how readily would I answer with "Here am I. Send me!"? I'd like to think that would be my first response, but in my heart, I know that it wouldn't be that easy. I would probably struggle with that decision. But in the end, you will never go wrong if you are following the call of God. 

Another verse that came up in church is a very familiar one. Jeremiah 29:11 - "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" As I said before, it is not the will of God that we be miserable. He wants us to succeed and be happy. He wants us to prosper. But He always wants us to do this in such a way that will bring Him honor and glory. There is no better way to glorify God than to listen to His voice and do what He commands. 

I hope you will just be thinking about all of this. Talk to God about this. Ask Him what He has in store for your life. Thank Him for where you currently are. Thank Him for being in control. Make it your daily goal to be closer to Him today than you were yesterday. And no matter what He may call you to, strive to be like Isaiah and reply with, "Here am I. Send me!" 

Thoughts

Today has been a pretty good Monday. The weather outside is gorgeous, and I am hoping this means that spring is here for good. I loves these days because I am reminded of God's goodness and faithfulness. Winter can feel so long and dreary, but we have the comfort of knowing that soon spring will arrive, and with it, beautiful weather and happy people. 

I am also reminded on beautiful spring days of God's beauty - the beauty of His character and of His creation. Even though it's only the beginning of spring and the trees are still bare, there is a sense of something wonderful that is about to happen. We anticipate the budding of those trees, the sprouting of the flowers, the beauty of life happening right before our eyes. All of this happens by God's hands. I imagine it is even more enjoyable for Him than it is for us. 

God made everything in His creation beautiful. At the very beginning, God called everything good. When God created man, His creation was finally complete. He looked down upon His treasure and proclaimed that everything was very good. We were the last piece in the puzzle. 

Sometimes it's hard to look at the vastness of creation and remember that God thinks of us as more beautiful. I've had the pleasure of seeing some of the greatest sites in the world, and it is incredibly humbling to realize that the God who created these wonders of nature knows each and everyone one of us by name and thinks of us more highly than all of creation. 

The bottom line is that we are God's treasures. He loves us individually and personally. No matter how flawed we are, He is always ready to forgive us and welcome us back into His arms. I only wish that we could live up to this standard. I wish that we could treat each other with the same level of respect and caring that God shows to us. Too often I hear people criticize others, and unfortunately, I am one of those people. It's as if in that moment we think ourselves better than that person, like they are less of a human being, like they are less worthy than we are. This is a lie from the pit of hell! 

I don't know who you are or what you are going through today, but I want to give you this encouragement: God loves you. That phrase is tossed around so much in Christian circles, and I know I often hear it said to me without thinking deeper about what it actually means. I like to look at it this way. God's love for you is so great that even if you were the only person on the face of the earth, Christ still would have died for you. 1 Peter 3:9b says "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Every person is precious to Christ, and He would not have changed a thing, even if you were the only person He needed to die for. Such love is hard for me to comprehend. 

Another thing: don't ever tell yourself that you are not as worthy or beautiful in God's eyes as someone else. I sometimes fall into this trap of thinking that God has bigger and better plans for other people and that His plan for my life is going to be second-best. No! Another lie from Satan! God's plan for each person is different. Sometimes I wonder why for some people, life just seems to fall in their lap. They get accepted into the college they want, they get great grades, they get married to their high school sweetheart or the only person they have ever dated, and their lives are just perfect and happy. I don't know why this happens for some people and not for others (and I probably never will know), but I do know that this is not because God loves them more. Romans 2:11 says, "...God does not show favoritism." He just simply has a different plan for your life. And I can assure you that His plan for your life will be the very best. 

These are just a few things that I like to remind myself of on a daily basis - God is so beautiful and His creation is amazing, God thinks I am beautiful, no matter who I am, and God's plan for my life is unique and incredible. 

Lastly, I can't tell you how thankful I am that my God is a personal God. I don't have to worry about trying to be more "holy" than anyone else. In my relationship with God, it's only God and myself. I am accountable to Him only, and I don't have to worry about trying to beat other people into Heaven (what a relief!). The only person I have to try to be better than is myself. I have to daily remind myself to be a better person than I was the day before. Often, I fail in this regard, but I still need to try every single day. 

These are my thoughts from the past few weeks. I don't know who all reads this (if anyone), but I hope that you have a fantastic day and a good start to the week. If you have some nice spring weather right now, don't forget to go outside and enjoy the beauty of life and God's creation!