Sunday, June 04, 2006
Great Expectations: Life's Winding Road
I haven't posted in a while; too many things going on in life, as usual.
The Pastor spoke on a very powerful topic this morning; I found the message very poignant and applicable in my life.
He went over the passage in Romans 15:20-26, where Paul speaks of his passion for spreading the Gospel and for his plans to visit Jerusalem in the short term, Rome in the near future and then eventually to Spain. He speaks of being continually thwarted in his plan to visit the Christians in Rome. The apostle Paul speaks longingly of his desire to see his fellow Christians and to minister in these areas for the cause of Christ.
As it turns out, we find in Acts 21 that after much adventure, including shipwreck, Paul does eventually get to Jerusalem, but is thrown in jail almost immediately. He does get to Rome, but is kept under house arrest and he never does get to Spain. Paul is martyred in Rome under the emperor Nero. Paul's grand plans for spreading the Word is never completely realized.
The Pastor's message is that so often in life, things don't turn out the way we think they will. Even when we are doing God's will in our lives (like Paul was), His plans may be so much different than ours, and so much wiser.
Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
When things don't quite work out in our lives, maybe God is trying to tell us to not trust in our Great Expectations, but to trust in and rely on His wisdom.
How many people can truly say that who and what they are right now are exactly what they expected or planned?
Is our career path going the way we had planned?
Is our family life what we had expected?
Are our children what we had expected?
Life ends up being a long and winding road for everyone. We all live out God's plan for our lives and we must have the courage to accept that ultimately His path is best for us.
The Pastor spoke on a very powerful topic this morning; I found the message very poignant and applicable in my life.
He went over the passage in Romans 15:20-26, where Paul speaks of his passion for spreading the Gospel and for his plans to visit Jerusalem in the short term, Rome in the near future and then eventually to Spain. He speaks of being continually thwarted in his plan to visit the Christians in Rome. The apostle Paul speaks longingly of his desire to see his fellow Christians and to minister in these areas for the cause of Christ.
As it turns out, we find in Acts 21 that after much adventure, including shipwreck, Paul does eventually get to Jerusalem, but is thrown in jail almost immediately. He does get to Rome, but is kept under house arrest and he never does get to Spain. Paul is martyred in Rome under the emperor Nero. Paul's grand plans for spreading the Word is never completely realized.
The Pastor's message is that so often in life, things don't turn out the way we think they will. Even when we are doing God's will in our lives (like Paul was), His plans may be so much different than ours, and so much wiser.
Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
When things don't quite work out in our lives, maybe God is trying to tell us to not trust in our Great Expectations, but to trust in and rely on His wisdom.
How many people can truly say that who and what they are right now are exactly what they expected or planned?
Is our career path going the way we had planned?
Is our family life what we had expected?
Are our children what we had expected?
Life ends up being a long and winding road for everyone. We all live out God's plan for our lives and we must have the courage to accept that ultimately His path is best for us.
