Am I Following God's Plan for my Life?

Intro

Being an adult is exhausting

So many things to think about! Sometimes I’m jealous of my kids...

“Various sources suggest that the average adult makes 33,000 to 35,000 total decisions each day, including what we will eat, what we will wear, what we will say, and how we’ll say it.” (Amanda Reill, Harvar Business Review)

Lots of those are small decisions, but some of them are BIG

One big question is our focus today: “Am I following God’s plan for my life?”

Includes many life-altering decisions like where to go to school, what career to pursue, who to marry, where to live, and any changes to those situations as you get older

As Christians, we (rightly) want to seek God’s will and direction for those questions

What does the Bible say about God’s plan for my life?

How can I hear God clearly and follow His lead?

We need to settle two key issues before we unpack these questions

Pray

Bust the Myth of The Sacred Timeline

The first thing: We need to bust the myth of the “sacred timeline”

Your life is NOT an epsiode of “Loki”

Explain the concept of the sacred timeline in Loki along with deviants being “pruned”

God isn’t sitting up in heaven, disappointed when you stray off the “one true path”

We put undue pressure on ourselves when we believe that we mess up God’s plan for our life if we make the wrong choice or miss His will when it is hard to hear

One great example of this is the sense of having to marry “the one”

Young adults can be frozen by fear of marrying the wrong person, missing the opportunity to meet the right person, settling for something second best… all without biblical reason

I can’t provide a Scriptural reference to the one, true, sacred timeline because it doesn’t exist

We create this idea out of our knowledge that God knows the “sacred timeline”

He is omniscient (all-knowing) and exists outside of time (past, present and future)

At the heart, when we think that missing God’s leading can wreck His plan in our life, we are giving ourselves too much credit

It is true that we can make wise or foolish decisions (and deal with consequences of each)

But God is big enough, and sovereign enough, not to throw up his hands in frustration because we didn’t go the right school or accept the right job or ask a specific person out on a date

Sometimes, we may not see or hear God’s leading very clearly because there can be more than one correct choice

Share my exasperation at God’s silence when choosing between Briercrest and Providence

This WAS a life-altering decision! I am literally your pastor today thanks to that choice

But it would be foolish and closed-minded to think that God could not have honoured a different decision and looked after me if I chose the other path

So do not put unbiblical pressure on yourself. God is bigger than your decisions and plans, and He can often put multiple good options in front of you

How Over Where

In fact, I would say God isn’t as interested in where you go as He is in how you live when you get there

Cf. Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

What is good? What does the Lord require of you? What is the Lord asking us to do? What is His will?

Do justice

God was adamant that His people treat others well and look after the marginalized (widows and orphans)

He could not STAND injustice putting some people unfairly ahead of others at their expense

So He institued the year of Jubilee in the covenant with His people (in Lev. 25)

During this year, economic debts were to be forgiven, land restored to families who sold in order to repay debt, and slaves sold to repay debt were to be liberated (Factbook)

Not enough to love justice, we must DO it; put it into action

No evidence that the children of Israel ever celebrated the year of Jubilee; their rampant injustice was one of the main reasons for eventual exile

What does it look like for us to “do justice” today?

Treat everyone fairly and with respect

Do not push others down to pull yourself up at their expense (i.e., belittle co-workers to gain an advantage)

Look out for the marginalized and those who do not have the resources to help themselves (i.e., partnering with SCO, Southeast Helping Hands, Soups On, etc.)

Love kindness (steadfast, loyal love)

Love… love? That’s the exact right idea

Not just any love, but a loyal love that God displays towards you

First we return God’s loyal love, then we extend it towards those around us

Refer to learning about the parable of the prodigal son in FG; father racing out to meet his son… this is loyal love

Walk humbly with your God

This gives us a great picture of following God’s plan for your life: No matter where you go, walk humbly with your God

Walk = life is a journey, and we are to remember that God is with us every step of the way

Humbly = a submission that decides that God takes the lead (half step in front)

We love what He loves; His priorities become our priorities; we obey His commandments; we trust in Him

When we live in this way, we will thrive in all the situations we find ourselves in

At school, do justice, love love and walk humbly with God. At work; at home; in your community

THIS is God’s will for you!

And as you live this way, it WILL postively impact your ability to make God-honouring decisions

“These [decisions] happen automatically and simultaneously through the information we’ve suboncisouly stored about is “good” or “bad.” Gerald Zaltman, a Harvard Business School professor, suggests that 95% of our congition occrus in the subconscious mind. This is by necessity - our brains would short-circuit if we had to weigh more than 30,000 decisions one by one” (Amanda Reill, Harvard Business Review)

To do justice, love love and walk humbly with God will infuse our decisions, both mundane every day decisions, and big life-altering decisions

God Still Leads You

Once we have busted the myth of the “sacred timeline” and acknowledged that God is more interested in how we live wherever we go, we are ready to learn that God still cares to lead you in your life.

Cf. Romans 12:1-2.

He cares about the details of your life, both big and small

He cares enough to listen to you, answer you, and offer His leading (when need be)

How can we know this? How can we hear from God and follow His lead?

God leads you:

Through giving you the ability to make wise, educated decisions

We have a role to play, and asking God for guidance is NOT a shortcut to using our abilities to make informed decisions

Talk about my penchant for researching (Consumer Reports, rtings.com, etc.)

Through what He has already revealed in His Word

Cf. Psalm 119:105.

More than just a revelation of right and wrong, we can hold up our potential decisions to Scripture and see how they match up

Does this decision reflect God’s character? His priorities? Does it bring Him glory?

God will never lead us down a path that goes against what He has already revealed to be true

Through a process of discernment (show graphic):

Get Ready: clarify the question and your values

Get Set: pray for indifference, wisdom and quiet trust

Go: listen and look for feelings of consolation and desolation

Do: put a God-led plan into action

Through the accountability of other Christ-followers

Don’t try to do this on your own

Too easy to be deceived by our own thoughts, desires and biases

Include others that you trust and who have the same values you do

God will often use trusted people in your life to help guide you

Conclusion

Hopefully this helps answer the question, “Am I following God’s plan for my life?”

Take the pressure off of yourself about deviating from the “sacred timeline.”

Recognize that God is most interested in how you go somewhere instead of where you go

Do justice, love steadfast love and walk humbly with your God

Bring specific questions of guidance before God

He cares about the details of your life, listens to your questions and chooses to answer in His will and His timing

Pray