February 01, 2007

     You’re never out of God’s plan.  Let me say that again – you’re never out of God’s plan … even when you take a detour in your life.  You’d probably refer to those situations by saying, “I backslid.  I wasn’t walking with the Lord at all.”  But remember, you’re never out of God’s plan.

     God sees these times of your life as part of His overall plan of getting you from your lost condition to Heaven.  You would see it as something where you just turned off the faucets toward God and, for a while, you were running loose and then you came to your senses and you’re back his plan again. 

     You’re never out of his plan.  Do you understand that? 

     You’re never out of his plan because God knows all things.  He sees all things and He holds sway over all things.  Paul wrote in his letter to Timothy, “God holds sway over all things.”  That means He’s ultimately in charge and nothing can happen that surprises Him or catches Him off guard - even when we are disobedient. 

     Those of you who are parents, have you ever had your kid push you?  You tell him, “No” but he just pushes and pushes and you finally say, “Okay.”  You and I both know you’re not changing how you feel about the situation.  You’re just to the point of, “You’re not going to learn this way, fine you’ll learn the hard way.”

     Many times people look at that in their lives, or in the lives of others, and say, “God’s changed His heart.  He’s changed His mind.  God’s all over the place.”  No, no, no, no.  God is eternal.  He can’t move.  You move.  Sometimes you’ll be on one side of God and then you’ll move to the other side and you think, “Oh!  God’s changed.”  No.  You moved.  You changed positions.  When Israel’s disobedience resulted in their going into captivity, God didn’t say, “Oh well, I had great plans for them.  I guess I just I’ll have to change my plans.”  He let that time be a learning experience and was waiting for them to turn back to Him.

     You see, to God, your life is a rerun.  Long ago, Moses said, “He sees our life as a story that’s been told.”  So God already knows everyone’s life.  God already knows what’s going to happen to your life and He’s there at every turn - reaching out to you and giving you an opportunity to be obedient, to be blessed, to spare yourself a little heat and learn the right way … the easier way.  But God’s not devastated when you don’t follow the obedient path.  He will let you learn and will wait for you to turn back to Him.  Because … you’re never out of God’s plan.

May The Lord Jesus Christ Be Magnified!

Pastor Leo A. Giovinetti

lley Christian Fellowship