Thursday... But He has a plan.
I am reading in the New Testament about Paul. Luke is the writer of the Acts of the Apostles and mainly he writes about the Apostle Paul and all of his travels and battles. And in chapter 23:11 (NLT) he writes, "That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, 'Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.'" And that was exciting news to Paul.
How would you feel if the Lord woke you up in the middle of the night and told you that He was going to give you your heart's desire? It would be exciting, wouldn't it? But then you probably aren't in prison like Paul was.
Verse 10 says, "As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress." Paul was in a mess because he was preaching everywhere he could about Jesus but the Jews didn't like it and they were trying to kill him so he was also out telling the Gentiles about Christ and Rome was where he really wanted to go.
Now we have great desires too and we go to God and pray that they would happen and if He tells us it is going to happen, then we are really excited. Now God has a plan for our life and He had a plan for Paul's life. And the end resort was exciting but it didn't happen the way Paul thought it would but it was way better than he thought.
You see he didn't get to Rome as a great preacher, he got there as a prisoner and he was used by God in a greater way than he ever could have imagined. You see, as a prisoner he wrote a big portion of the New Testament which has made a major difference in sharing the message of Christ. More than if he had gone as a preacher.
God may put within our hearts a great desire and maybe He lets us know that it is going to happen but we need to be confident that He has a way planned out to accomplish it that is greater than we could ever imagine. God has His plan for our life and He wants us to trust Him and follow Him and let Him fulfill it the way He wants.
I have found that God's plan is way better than mine. And I am so glad that I have let Him fulfill His plan for my life. He is so better at it than I am. He has placed in me desires that He wants to fulfill but He wants me to trust Him in how He does it. So no matter what we are going through let's be encouraged as Paul was encouraged.
The Message says verse 11 this way, "That night the Master appeared to Paul: 'It's going to turn out for the best. You've been a good witness for me in Jerusalem. Now your going to be my witness in Rome!"
If we do what God wants us to do then it's going to turn out for the best. He has a plan. Let's trust Him. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning
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