God's Plans for You Are Right on Time

I wanted snow. Not 10 inches but enough to make snow ice cream. I’m just a little disappointed. But I was home this week-end and would have enjoyed it. Usually when it snows I’m looking for a can of condensed milk and find none. This year I’ve been ready all winter. There are extra cans waiting in the cabinet. But no snow to go with the milk. I’m prepared but there’s nothing happening.

Ever feel prepared for something yet nothing happens? You know in your heart it’s something you really want and you’ve done everything to be ready. Yet it does not appear. Disappointment wants to knock on the door of your heart and walk right in and take over. It could be a job, a boyfriend, a marriage, a house, a past-time, a ministry, a dream. You’ve prepared and made everything ready on your end but the answer doesn’t come through. You start to wonder. Questions come. You ask yourself if you did something wrong, if you missed the boat, if God was not aware of your dreams and plans.

Disappointment isn’t something you want to let in. The trouble with disappointment is it brings friends with it. Entertain disappointment and you’ll find yourself feeling depressed, and ultimately in despair. Satan will use disappointment that settles in your heart to convince you that you missed God. Or that God missed you. The tactic of the enemy is to use situations that are temporary and convince you they are permanent.

Snow will eventually fall here again. It’s just not going to happen right now. Do I give up? Do I throw out the canned milk? Do I curse the snow and refuse to believe? No. I refer to the truth. I defer to the truth.

With every situation we find ourselves in we must defer to God. He alone knows the why, the when and the where. But He says He has plans for us and they are good. So, we don’t answer the door when the disappointment comes. We replace disappointment with the knowledge that it is HIS appointment that counts. All our appointments are kept right on time by an On time God! We shut the mouth of the enemy by praising God. Praising God for delays that give way to His wonderful ways – right on time.

Oh beloved! This is not the time to give up. This is the time to spend time with Jesus. Praising Him. Worshipping Him. Responding to Him. Letting Him speak His truth into your heart. Reading His Word, over and over again. Finding the Scriptures that speak to your heart and living in their light. Everything else wants to let darkness take over – your mind and your senses are reeling because what you thought would happen hasn’t happened. But your spirit responds to God’s Word with His Truth to lift you out of despair and into His presence of glory and peace. Don’t spend another moment cursing what should have been, but begin to praise Him for what is going to be! You will find that your burden of disappointment can’t stay in the presence of praise. This is the time to be full of joy and peace as you wait for the Father to fulfill His plans for you in His time. 

God loves you and He’s for you and all His plans are good and right on time. Keep praying for His plans to come through and watch as He will never disappoint you ever. You can dance with joy as you wait in His presence for His plans to come to light.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. AMP

Psalm 52:9 I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

The Star on Your Christmas Tree is a Wonderful Reminder...

Follow the star…the wise men followed the star to their destination and they found the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Follow the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night…the wise yet easily distracted Israelites followed and they found that God was worthy to follow. Follow Me…Jesus told them and they dropped it all and followed Him and they were not disappointed.

I’m being followed on twitter. It’s a social site where people can say whatever’s on their mind or can share their knowledge or talk with friends, but it’s kept in short sentences. You can post links to other sites you have.  I’m not what you’d call “good at it” but I do see this as a great way to get the devotionals out to another sector of the world.

Anyway some of the people who are following me have impressive definitions of what they do or who they are. Those definitions show up right by their names.  Some also make incredible promises. They will say they know how to get you published, they know all the right people, they are infamous or they are outstanding in their field of expertise.  Others, like me, share hope and light to those who walk in darkness.

I was reading some of the “tweets” (the little bits of info they publish) and realized that I have none of the qualifications that so many of the authors, publishers and promoters have. They are quick and eager to tell you they merit being followed. They make huge promises. They are in the know. They are worth it. And they really do incredible things. But are they really worth following? And how far should we follow them?

I know the One who is worth following. I know Who has all the answers. Not only is He worth following, there’s no one else to follow who will bring lasting change, eternal perspective and everlasting life. The world will make you some huge promises but they cannot deliver it all to you. The loved one, the child, the pastor, the spouse, the coworker, the friend – they all promise they have something for you. But when it comes right down to it, only One is worth following all the way. Only One delivers on all His promises.

Oh beloved, as you place your star upon your tree this season, rehearse the truth about the worthiness of Christ. Rehearse too that He is the light you can follow so that any darkness you may be experiencing will be dispelled.   He’ll never mislead you, He’ll never misguide you or give you poor advise. Just as that star in the sky on that beautiful night led the wise men to their needed destination, the Lord Himself will guide you to your glorious, God designed, bright with promise destination. It may be hard right now, you may be experiencing darkness in areas of your life.  It may be very hard as you are experiencing loss, remorse, rejection, humiliation, abandonment or fear. Those things have no light in them, it’s true, but Jesus promises to rid your life of the pain of walking in the dark – He is with you always. The stars in the sky and the star on your tree are reminders that you are loved and you are cared for. He’s worth following beloved, with your whole heart, for your whole life. And following Him will lead you right where you need to be all the days of your life.

Matthew 2:9-10 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Nehemiah 9:12 And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Luke 5:11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

1 Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”