SUBMITTING TO GOD’S PLANS

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  07/04/23

Many Christians have a wrong view of the will of God. They experience great fear and anxiety as they seek God’s direction for their lives. Others say they want to know and do the will of God, but only if it doesn’t conflict with their own. Still others view the will of God as some sort of bitter medicine, groaning over where God might lead them next.

One of Satan’s greatest lies is that God’s will isn’t appealing. Satan wants us to distrust the Lord. He wants us to be skeptical of God’s plan for our lives. Satan wants us to believe that God does not have our best interest at heart.

Here’s the Truth: The will of God and the plan of God both come out of the heart of God. God’s will is the expression of His love for us, and when we do not joyfully submit to the will of God, we miss out on the blessings He has for us.

The most mature Christians are those who are most dependent on God. Those truly mature Christians are the ones who say to the Lord, “Not my will, but Yours,” and they mean it and are happy about it! Again and again in Scripture we see that those who submit joyfully to the will of God get the victory.

In James 4:13-15, we read, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. . . . Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'”

Was James saying that we should not have any plans for life? Was he saying that we should never set goals but rather drift from one season to the next? Not at all. Here, James cautions us from making plans based on our own selfish desires and ambitions and then praying, “God, bless my plan.” Instead, we must take time to pray and diligently prioritize the Lord’s plan over our own, knowing that His ways are better than ours.

Prayer: Lord, let these ideas of submission to Your will take root deep within me. Father, I seek Your mind, Your heart, and Your will—not mine. I pray that I would obey Your plan regardless of the cost because, in the end, Your ways are better than my ways. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).