Whatever Your Hand & Your Plan
God’s hand and Plan can take us into some rocky terrain at times.
I do not believe every hard and terrible circumstance is divinely-caused. The Bible is clear that it rains on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). Sometimes they are caused by our own very poor – or sometimes downright studid – choices. I do believe we can go through seasons of hardships that are intended for a greater purpose.
There are a plethora of things in life that we have little to no control over. We may be in a season of mental pain, physical sickness, or financial hardship. We should be proactive in doing what we can do, things that God gave us common sense to do, to avoid these hardships. But there will come a time when we find ourselves at the end the proverbial rope and our only solution is trusting in an unseen God.
This makes most of us squirm in our seat.
We begin to pray for God to take us out of the hard situation that is lasting way too long. But what if God intended for us to be right where we are…uncomfortable in the pain, in some kind of hardship?
I can almost hear all of your eyebrows raising in unbelief that I would even propose this. Go read about Joseph (Gen. 50), the Hebrew boys (Dan. 3), or the man blind from birth (John 9). All of these people were put through hell on earth so that other’s could know and believe in Him.
In Acts 4:28, Peter and John were praying a powerful prayer for boldness. They were reflecting on Jesus’ crucifixion and voiced that there are times when God’s hand and plan holds some difficult times for us.
“to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” Acts 4:28
Yes, God’s hand and plan moved in such a way that Jesus was predestined to suffer and die for our sins. Jesus faced a horrible circumstance and He did pray in the Garden of Gethsemane to let the cup pass from Him. But it produced a beautiful result for all of us – restoration with God.
We’d be crazy not to ask God to help us with a terrible situation.
He wants to help us in our hour of need. However, if the situation persists, imagine what would happen if our prayers went from “God save me from this horrible circumstance” to “God whatever happens, I am going to worship you and some how use this experience to minister to others”?
Yes, sometimes God’s hand and plan takes us to some distressing, dreadful places. I personally know some folks who have been dragged down to the pit, but because they kept their eyes on Jesus, whatever happened to them, many others came to know Him through their testimony.
Perhaps your physical sickness will lead to someone’s spiritual healing. Perhaps your heart full of hurt will lead to someone’s heart being made whole. Say yes to whatever God’s “hand and plan” is for your life.
