Recalculating Direction, 
Laurie Williams

 Fear to Freedom, 
Rosemary Trible

GOD'S PLAN OR MY PLAN? Rhonda Ross Monday May 16, 2011

I used to introduce myself as Kim's mom but I don't do that anymore. I used to say I am taking baby steps with God. Now I am in my "teenage years..." I moved up a notch.

I asked God what I should talk to you about.  I am often getting ahead of myself.  I heard God tell me to "Stop racing against me, slow down," and  he said to talk about My Way opposed to my own way. God is leading the way now. This time, God is leading the way, it's not my own way.

At a retreat that Lesa hosted, I knew God rescued me from myself. I felt my heart break and then He put it back together again and healed it. I have not been the same since then.

We like to go our won way and push to make things happen for ourselves. Now I want God to lead the way even though I do not have a clue to where He is leading me. I was rushing, rushing, rushing trying to make buying a another house happen. God said slow down. My husband was not into it as much as me. So i stopped. We do not have to buy a new house right now. I choose to look at the blessings I already have.

I am a planner- where I am going, how am I going to get there, how much will it cost, what it will look like  when I get there. A new bigger house. That's MY plan. God does not want me to have what others have, He wants me to be thankful for what I already have.

Trust God, give it to Him, let it go, let Him guide you like a map. That's HIS plan.

Job was a learned and smart man, and known for his wealth. He was not from Abraham's descent.

Job 1:1

1 ¶ There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

He was blameless & upright in God's eyes. So this tells me that not all suffering in our life is caused by the bad things you do. God is with you even in the suffering. When pain and strife overtake your life God is with you. Anger & bitterness will eat you if you do not forgive and let God reign in your life.

Job's kids partied at their brothers house. Job thought they were doing stuff they should not be doing so he offered burnt sin offerings on their behalf all the time.

Terrible destruction killed his kids, all his livestock, every external thing was lost. But Job worshipped God anyway. He did not curse God.Then Satan attacked Him internally with boils. Job cursed the day he was born, but did not accuse God of injustice. Job resisted his wife's ill advised counsel to curse God and die. Then miserable comforters came. Job never gave in. In the end he received back two-fold of everything except his children. He even gave his daughters an inheritance with their brothers.

Job honored God when he did not know the reward in the end. He just honored God and stuck by God in the face of the worst things that can happen. God is there. God will reward us. He wants us to love Him just because we love Him not for the reward. Jesus died for us. We owe Him.

We cannot pay God for what he did.
We don't have anything to pay him with.
 

Let's do it God's way even though we like to do it our own way.

Slow down. Look at the blessings you do have. Listen to Him & be obedient to Him. I am happier now and less stressed doing it His way.- Rhonda

Question: Are we going to do it God's way or our own way? We want control, we want to know what it all will look like. Do we really trust God that what God wants for us is good? If we trust God then we won't need to control everything. And we won't base our decisions upon what we can control. Most run from pain or what is hard. Sometimes going through the pain gets us to the deliverance.-Lesa