Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:13-15)
God is not the author of evil in our lives. We saw in our last post that His can be limited and that He is not sovereignly controlling our lives.
We are not pawns in some cosmic chess game! God has a plan for our lives and He has given us the freedom to choose to walk in it or not to walk in it.
If we come to the end of our lives and discover that we have not fulfilled the plan of God, it will not be God’s fault. I believe that a person has not discovered the plan of God if they are merely going through the motions and do not enjoy what they are doing each day.
If things are not going right in our lives it is because we are not walking in the plan of God for our lives.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
Jesus made it clear that Satan kills people. Why do we blame God by saying it must have been His will for a person to have some terrible disease? I don’t believe that any of us can even begin to comprehend how much it must hurt God for us to blame Him for our sufferings!
God has a perfect plan for each of us. If we are not seeing it fulfilled, it is not God’s fault! He will not sovereignly control our lives and make everything work out the way it is supposed to. We have to pursue His plan in order to discover and walk in it.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)
A lot of people know this verse. If we look at in context we will see that it is talking about the judgment of God. The intended audience lived under a different covenant and they had fallen into idolatry.
God wrath was being poured out and in Jeremiah 29 He was declaring the judgment on their sin. In the midst of this He paused with a “but”. Judgment was declared but it was not God’s plan.
Verse 11 is a lament of God. He was limited in what He could do for the people because they would not cooperate with Him.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
One thing that strikes me about these two verses is that they are not saying we will find God if we seek Him. They are actually saying that we will find Him only when we seek Him with all of our heart.
I have heard people say that they have set aside ten minutes for prayer and they were still not finding God. This is not the way we find God!
God is not interested in us trying to squeeze in some time for Him before our favorite television show or movie starts. Spending ten minutes with Him before watching television for two hours does not qualify as seeking Him with our whole heart.
If we are able to live without knowing what God’s will for our lives is, we will. Each one of us must allow the Holy Spirit to bring us to the point where we really are unable to live without Him.
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