Considerations

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
 Jeremiah 29:11

When I reflect on my life, the highs and lows, I can see God’s hand all over it. At times, it might have seemed that He was absent and uncaring about what was happening. That He did not love me enough to intervene in those hard times (some due to my own choices) when I needed to be rescued. But as I look back, I can see how He used everything that happened in my life to work together for my good, to help me be the person I am today and equip me for His calling and His purposes for my life (Romans 8:28). I refer to it as my God Story.

What about you? What is your God Story?

The good, the bad and the ugly

Jeremiah 29:11 indicates that God has a plan for each person. However, He does not force us to walk in that plan. We have the freedom to say yes or no to it. We also live in a broken world where the enemy seeks every moment to steal, kill and destroy those plans (John 10:10). So even if we are seeking God for His will for our lives, we still have to contend with the enemy who uses others to disturb what God has for us. This means we will sometimes find ourselves in places we don’t want to be in, facing hurt, pain, and even the threat of death either because of our choices or the choices of others.

But even in the midst of these detours from God’s best for us, He is still able to write His story. Let’s remember this truth: God is sovereign! He can use our choices and the choices of others, no matter how disastrously they are, to unfold His story for our lives. The life of Joseph in Genesis shows us this. What brings us harm, including intentional acts against us, God can turn them around to be used for our good as well as the good of others (see Genesis 50:20). 

God’s love, grace and mercy

As we encounter hard times (the consequences of ours and/or others’ choices), they can become a catalyst for us to seek God. When we seek Him, we invite Him to transform our hard places into opportunities to experience His love, grace and mercy. In the verses below, Israel was told that seeking God would bring an end to their captivity, which was the consequence of their choice to disobey God. Seeking God would eventually lead them back to His plans for them:

In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” 
Jeremiah 29:12-14

Their diversion from God’s original plan for them became part of their God Story. Their story expanded as it came to include numerous experiences of God’s grace, mercy and faithfulness. Today the Bible unfolds their God Story, as well as many other God Stories, as beautiful reminders for us of God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. Reminders we need as we ourselves divert often from God’s plans.

So what is your God Story?

Are you able to see the pen of God crafting His story even in those moments when you veered off the path to do your own thing?

How have you experienced His love, grace, mercy and forgiveness? Can you see how they have played a significant role in your life story?

Their God Story

One more thing: Let’s also give God space to write His story in others’ lives. As we experienced God’s faithfulness in those hard places, we must allow others, especially our loved ones, to do the same. In our attempt to shield and rescue others from rough spots, we prevent them from seeing their need for the True Rescuer, Jesus Christ. Let’s not be quick to rush in and rescue, thereby hindering the hand of God in their lives and interfering in their own God Story.

Today celebrate and share your God Story to bring Him glory and to encourage others to see their own God Story!