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God Blesses His Plan, Not Yours

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by Rick Warren

“From now on, every generation will call me blessed! For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.” (Luke 1:48b-50 NLT)

Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew that faith and obedience are the keys to God’s blessing, so she chose to go with God’s destiny for her life.

Now, as a pastor, I want God to bless your life. I want him to bless you spiritually. I want him to bless you financially. I want him to bless your career and family and relationships and health. But if you have a plan for your life — I’ll tell you — you’re on your own.

God is not going to bless your plan. God did not put you on Earth to live for yourself. He put you on Earth for something much bigger than that. And when you go with his plan for your life, he will bless it.

Mary could sing about God’s plan for her life because she was excited about it. Even though it would cause problems, people would misunderstand her, and she would be accused of wrongdoing, Mary trusted God. She knew God would bless her and that even generations to come would remember what God did through her.

Guess what? The same thing is true of your life, too. What you do with your life will be remembered not just on Earth but also in eternity forever and ever. How you serve and love others according to God’s will for your life will leave a legacy on Earth and in eternity: “My Father will honor anyone who serves me” (John 12:26 NCV).

Could Mary have said “no” to God’s destiny for her life? Yes. God never forces you to go with his plan, because he wants you to choose to love him. That’s why he gave you free will instead of making you a puppet. That’s why the vast majority of people miss God’s destiny. They choose to go their own way instead of saying, like Mary, “Whatever you want to do with me, I’m your servant. I accept your destiny for my life.”

God Covers Your Faults with His Perfect Love

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by Jon Walker

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son. John 1:14 (TEV)

The love of God is intimate and personal. He came up-close in Christ, and that means we cannot hide our imperfections and faults from him. He knows about them anyway.

This model from God means we need to love each other intimately and personally, looking past the faults and weaknesses of one another, seeing the handiwork of God in each one of us, knowing that we also have weaknesses and faults but that God is active in our lives, too.

When we know and believe that God is determined to love us no matter what, we can stop being concerned about our faults and conform to Christ instead of our fears (Romans 12:2). When we don’t believe that God loves us no matter what, we try to put on masks that make us look perfect in order to hide our faults. When we try to hide behind masks, we undermine God’s plan that we live together in transparent, loving communities, such as small groups.

The reality is, God’s love is perfect, and he wants to cover our faults with Jesus Christ.

God goes beyond merely diagnosing our problems or judging our faults (Psalm 103:10); instead, he steps forward to address the areas of our lives that are broken:

  • Into our emptiness, he brings fullness and completion (Colossians 2:9-10).
  • Into our deficit, he brings supply (Philippians 4:19).
  • Into our death, he brings life (Ephesians 2:1, 5).
  • Into our separation, he brings reconciliation (Romans 5:10-11).
  • Into our imperfect love, he brings perfect love (1 John 4:10).

The more we’re conscious of God’s love, the less self-conscious we become about ourselves. We spend less time and energy looking to appear perfect and have a life where everything is exactly the way we want it to be; instead, we invest more time and energy pouring ourselves into other people, who, along with us, make an imperfect community, but one infused with God’s love.