FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014
You ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”—James 4:15
The book of Acts tells the story of Philip and how the Lord was blessing him in Samaria as he preached the gospel. Everything was going well. People were coming to faith.
Miracles were taking place.
Then God told him to go to the desert. And not only did God tell him to go to the desert, but He told him to go to Gaza, to a desolate road that was rarely used. And not only did He tell him to go to this rarely used road, but He told him to go at the hottest time of the day. Essentially God said, “Go out to the middle of the desert to a deserted road in the middle of the afternoon, and I will show you what to do next.”
Sometimes the will of God doesn’t make sense. We may plan to do a certain thing, but God may intervene. He might have another plan. The idea is that we should remember God in our plans, and we should also remember He may change our plans.
Often in his writings, the apostle Paul would refer to the will of God for his life. He told the believers at Ephesus he would return to them for renewed ministry if God willed. And he wrote to the Corinthians that he planned to visit them if the Lord willed. That is important for us to factor into our plans as well. We always should remember, “If the Lord wills.”
Sometimes the Lord will lead us differently from where we would like to go. But what we must come to recognize is that the will of God is perfect, and we should never be afraid of it.
Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesusby Greg Laurie, 2013
Radio Program: “Jesus’ Message to Last Days Believers, Part 1 — II”
TV Program: “The Best is Yet to Come, Part 1”
Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 6-7, Psalm 135,Romans 4
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Used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie, PO Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.
