Plans (postponed)

*Disclaimer: So, I pulled all of this together two weeks ago and decided not to share it. Well this week, I've run into the recurring theme of OBEDIENCE, acting when God tells you to..."delayed obedience is still disobedience." (ouch. thanks, God.) I was going to share a post with all of these amazing insights and connections, then God just goes, "Or you could share what I already gave you...?"
Oh, how He shoves us...

Psalm 20:4
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.


Psalm 33:11
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Proverbs 15:22
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.


Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.


Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.


Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.


Proverbs 20:18
Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance.


Proverbs 21:5
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

I believe God's Word. I know He is true and His promises never fail. Where I get caught up, is allowing other people's opinions/ideas/plans to hold my thoughts captive...I begin to compare human opinions, rather than holding it all up to the light of God's Word and discerning what is of Him and what is not.

My friend asked me the other week, "What are your dreams?" I'm so grateful it was brought up, because this question has come up (in various contexts/forms) over the past several days...and I know I kept getting hung up because I kept trying to define it by what I plan to do, rather than who I'm going to be.

What are my dreams?

....For God to be glorified in absolutely everything I do. To embrace every single moment as an opportunity to love/serve someone else. For me to decrease and God to increase. To sincerely count it ALL joy (only by His grace). To be active in sharing my faith, that I may gain a full understanding of everything I have in Christ.

I guess that's why I'm not uber concerned about what I'll ultimately be doing vocationally, because the Word applies to every season and every facet of my life...I mean, I believe that goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I WILL dwell in the house of my Lord forever! I have a broad vision for my life over the next several years (nothing entirely grandiose or specific), but God is also faithful to give me fresh rhema every day, that is soaked in love and confirmation. And lately,

"I can't imagine a life without You, without You 'Cause it's all for You Yeah it's all for You God"
~You Deserve

hm, now I'm reminded that just last Saturday, He admonished me to "cease striving and know that He is God..." What the heck? Howww do I forget so quickly? But it's not even forgetting, it's choosing to get wrapped up in my self-created stress. Lord, thank you for being endlessly patient and gracious with us...keep my spirit quiet and humble before You...


"Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes;

But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God."
~1 Peter 3:3-4, AMP

Also (because God likes to tell me the same thing in 3 different ways, hallelujah)~

"A quiet spirit is of inestimable value in carrying on outward activities; and nothing so hinders the working of the hidden spiritual forces, upon which, after all, our success in everything really depends, as a spirit of unrest and anxiety.

"There is immense power in stillness. A great saint once said, "All things come to him who knows how to trust and be silent." The words are pregnant with meaning. A knowledge of this fact would immensely change our ways of working. Instead of restless struggles, we would "sit down" inwardly before the Lord, and would let the Divine forces of His Spirit work out in silence the ends to which we aspire. You may not see or feel the operations of this silent force, but be assured it is always working mightily, and will work for you, if you only get your spirit still enough to be carried along by the currents of its power." --Hannah Whitall Smith
~April 28th, Streams in the Desert

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”
~Job 19:25