God's Plans - How do I Know I'm not interfering with them?

[scottyscotts]

Hi everyone,

Although I’ve been a Christian for while, it was only recently that I gave myself to God and told him that I no longer care about what I want in life, that I only want what he wants for me. That I only want whatever plan he has for me. I fully trust him. I’ve been asking him over and over what he wants for me, and what he wants me to do with a particular problem I have at the moment. I haven’t had an answer yet. Well, I haven’t heard an answer yet. Maybe I just can’t hear him?

There’s something that’s worrying me though. Since I don’t know what he wants for me, how do I know if I’m doing the right things? How do I know I’m not inadvertently going against his plans? How do I know the decisions I make don’t interfere with his plan for me? What if I inadvertantly block his plans for me?

Last night before I went to sleep I prayed and asked God all of this. I told him that I want to follow his plan, but not knowing what it is, I might inadvertently go against it. I told him all my concerns.

Because I have to get up early in the mornings for work and I’m terrible at doing so, one of the many alarms I use to wake up is the timer on my TV. I have it set to a channel that plays various Christian church services early in the morning.

This morning I woke up to the TV blaring away, and started listening to what a preacher was saying. He was talking all about how God has a plan for us all and that we should just trust him. That he’s trying to carry out his plans for all of us. I was half asleep so I can’t remember the specifics of what he said, but I heard the general message.

I’m not sure if the timing of this was just coincidence, but I think God may have been sending me a message.

Should I just stop worrying about whether or not I’m following God’s plan because as long as I trust him, he’ll make it happen regardless of how much I screw things up?

Thanks everyone.

[claybevan]

Hi everyone,

Although I’ve been a Christian for while, it was only recently that I gave myself to God and told him that I no longer care about what I want in life, that I only want what he wants for me. That I only want whatever plan he has for me. I fully trust him. I’ve been asking him over and over what he wants for me, and what he wants me to do with a particular problem I have at the moment. I haven’t had an answer yet. Well, I haven’t heard an answer yet. Maybe I just can’t hear him?

There’s something that’s worrying me though. Since I don’t know what he wants for me, how do I know if I’m doing the right things? How do I know I’m not inadvertently going against his plans? How do I know the decisions I make don’t interfere with his plan for me? What if I inadvertantly block his plans for me?

Last night before I went to sleep I prayed and asked God all of this. I told him that I want to follow his plan, but not knowing what it is, I might inadvertently go against it. I told him all my concerns.

Because I have to get up early in the mornings for work and I’m terrible at doing so, one of the many alarms I use to wake up is the timer on my TV. I have it set to a channel that plays various Christian church services early in the morning.

This morning I woke up to the TV blaring away, and started listening to what a preacher was saying. He was talking all about how God has a plan for us all and that we should just trust him. That he’s trying to carry out his plans for all of us. I was half asleep so I can’t remember the specifics of what he said, but I heard the general message.

I’m not sure if the timing of this was just coincidence, but I think God may have been sending me a message.

Should I just stop worrying about whether or not I’m following God’s plan because as long as I trust him, he’ll make it happen regardless of how much I screw things up?

Thanks everyone.

Hello,
As a relatively new christian you are bound to have questions and anxieties and it takes a while to recognise His voice but you will settle down in Him. Your best friend for checking if you have heard right is your Bible, if what you hear goes against what's in his word then it's not God speaking, doesn't mean it's anything demonic, just that it's easy to get things a little wrong at first.
John 10:
2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

I think that the TV message sounds good,it doesn't go against anything in the bible. So relax a little, read his word a lot, keep your ears and eyes open, I believe he has some wonderful things in store for you.

[Dani H]

God's plan is for you to be conformed into the image of Jesus, for you to be reconciled to Himself in every way.

God's will is for you to love Him with your entire being, and to love other people as you love yourself.

Everything else is completely secondary. Keep first things first, and the secondary usually has a way of working itself out.

[jayne]

Been there – done that! LOL!!

Look at it this way. You ARE following God’s will to some degree.

[1] It’s God’s will that you be saved. And you have been. So – cross that one off the list.

[2] It’ God’s will that you follow Him daily and grow spiritually. We will never be able to cross that one off the list because it’s a daily and ongoing thing, but you can ask yourself are you doing these things daily.

• Reading His word.
  
• Both talking and listening to God. Bringing glory to God in the way that we treat Him and others.
  
• Emulating Christ.
  
• Allowing yourself to be led by the Spirit.
  
• Watching for where God is working in your life and waiting patiently if need be.

It’s not so much of a daily asking of the question, “What is God’s will for my life today?”. If we get consumed with that – sometimes – and I’m not trying to be silly because I’ve been there – but if we focus on the “me” part of what does God want “me” to do more than the “God” part of what does “God” want me to do – then we can get obsessive over things as mundane as what to have for lunch and should we put money in the Salvation Army kettle.

This article might help you some. It's from gotquestions.org

Question: "How can I know God's will for my life? What does the Bible say about knowing God's will?"

Answer: There are two keys to knowing God's will for a given situation: 1) Make sure what you are asking for or considering doing is not something the Bible forbids. 2) Make sure what you are asking for or considering doing will glorify God and help you grow spiritually. If these two things are true and God still is not giving you what you are asking, then it is likely not God’s will for you to have what you are asking for. Or, perhaps you just need to wait a while longer for it. Knowing God’s will is sometimes difficult. People want God to tell them specifically what to do—where to work, where to live, whom to marry, etc. God rarely gives people information that direct and specific. God allows us to make choices regarding those things.

Romans 12:2 tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” The only decision God does not want us to make is the decision to sin or resist His will. God wants us to make choices that are in agreement with His will. So, how do you know what God’s will is for you? If you are walking closely with the Lord and truly desiring His will for your life, God will place His desires on your heart. The key is wanting God’s will, not your own. “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). If the Bible does not speak against it and it can genuinely benefit you spiritually, then the Bible gives you the “permission” to make decisions and to follow your heart. If you truly seek God’s will with a humble spirit and an open mind, He will reveal His will to you.

[EarlyCall]

Hi everyone,

Although I’ve been a Christian for while, it was only recently that I gave myself to God and told him that I no longer care about what I want in life, that I only want what he wants for me. That I only want whatever plan he has for me. I fully trust him. I’ve been asking him over and over what he wants for me, and what he wants me to do with a particular problem I have at the moment. I haven’t had an answer yet. Well, I haven’t heard an answer yet. Maybe I just can’t hear him?

There’s something that’s worrying me though. Since I don’t know what he wants for me, how do I know if I’m doing the right things? How do I know I’m not inadvertently going against his plans? How do I know the decisions I make don’t interfere with his plan for me? What if I inadvertantly block his plans for me?

Last night before I went to sleep I prayed and asked God all of this. I told him that I want to follow his plan, but not knowing what it is, I might inadvertently go against it. I told him all my concerns.

Because I have to get up early in the mornings for work and I’m terrible at doing so, one of the many alarms I use to wake up is the timer on my TV. I have it set to a channel that plays various Christian church services early in the morning.

This morning I woke up to the TV blaring away, and started listening to what a preacher was saying. He was talking all about how God has a plan for us all and that we should just trust him. That he’s trying to carry out his plans for all of us. I was half asleep so I can’t remember the specifics of what he said, but I heard the general message.

I’m not sure if the timing of this was just coincidence, but I think God may have been sending me a message.

Should I just stop worrying about whether or not I’m following God’s plan because as long as I trust him, he’ll make it happen regardless of how much I screw things up?

Thanks everyone.

Read your Bible much more than you do and do as you heard the pastor on TV say and trust God. Do you recall that Abraham and Moses screwed up and yet God fulfilled His plan in their lives? And remember, it is not your plan for your life but God's plan. You seek God with all you are and let Him take responsibility for the rest of it.

As for His plan for your life, never mind about that. God wants you to know Him. Again, it's His plan and He'll manage the details and the working out of it. Besides, God works out His plans using sinful men and women too, recall Pharaoh, and so you can see that someone inadvertently screwing things up would have to do far better than Pharaoh did in his attempt to stop God's plan for freeing the Jews! So, this being so, how much more then can God use someone truly trying to do the will of God?

While God does at times reveal a portion of His plan for us, He wants us to trust Him. But where there is knowledge of a matter, trust has been replaced, and where there is no knowledge of a matter, trust can be lived out if given a chance. God wants the latter. God created the universe and is more than able to handle your missteps.

Trust is always easy until it is necessary to put it into practice at which time trust becomes a rather difficult matter. It becomes something learned over time. It is a difficult thing to truly learn. No better time to start than now.

[awestruckchild]

Hi Scotty,
It's very good to meet you!
Have you received the Holy Spirit yet?
If so, have you figured out yet what His voice is?
Is there something particular that you can point to or describe to say: THIS, strange as it may or may not sound to someone else, is how I know God is with me and we are communing?

[scottyscotts]

Thanks for all your replies everyone. Sorry I haven’t replied. The last couple of weeks have been very busy, but I was able to come in and read your comments. They’ve really helped me. I understand now that if I truly trust God I can’t screw up his plans.

But that being said, what if there are things that do come down to me? Things that rely on my own free will? I don’t want to mess up.

The reason why I’m asking all of this is because I have a big question I’ve been asking God. I’ve been asking him if he wants me and my fiancée to get married. I’ve got 6 months to work it out, and then it can’t be changed. If I call off of postpone the wedding, that’ll be it forever. She’ll be so hurt that I’ll never be able to marry her. Whatever I decide to do, I need to be 100 percent sure. Whatever I decide could either fulfil God’s plan, or totally destroy it forever. What if he’s telling me not to marry her and I can’t hear him, so end up marrying her? What if he’s telling me to marry her but I think he’s saying not to? How do I know if my desire to marry her is God telling me I should, or because I’m too scared to be without her? Either way I have the power to totally screw it all up and I don’t want that power. I want God to decide.

[Dani H]

God doesn't arrange marriages.

He may bring certain people into our lives, but whether or not to get married to any of them, is a free-will choice . Unless you live in a culture where marriages are arranged of course. Then the dynamics are obviously different.

Is this woman your best friend and partner that you know beyond the shadow of a doubt you want to spend the rest of your life with? Do you want her to be the mother of your children, and grow with her in God together? Do you want to covenant with her at the exclusion of all others and grow old with her? Do you like her? Are you two good for each other and bring out the best in each other? Do you complement each other, or do you make each other crazy? Do you understand what God expects from a husband? Are you willing to be a godly husband to her? Do you understand what God expects from a wife? Is she willing to be a godly wife to you?

Do you two know each other, the good, the bad, and the ugly? And are you two still willing to covenant with each other? Do you understand marriage? Do you understand covenant? Does your fiancee?

It's your decision, mate. Don't be pinning this one on God. You make it. It's important that you do because the consequences will be for you to deal with, so you have to be at complete peace with it. You're a man and an adult. You're well capable of making your own life choices. God will give you guidance, and wisdom, but He will not rob you of your choices because He created us all with the ability to make our own decisions.

Marrying the love of your life, that best friend and worthy partner, should be the easiest decision in the world. Why is this so difficult for you? Answer that (not here, but to yourself) and maybe that'll help.

[jayne]

The reason why I’m asking all of this is because I have a big question I’ve been asking God. I’ve been asking him if he wants me and my fiancée to get married. I’ve got 6 months to work it out, and then it can’t be changed. If I call off of postpone the wedding, that’ll be it forever.

I hope that I don't come off as flippant or unconcerned because I sense you truly want to please God and that's a very good thing.

I just have to ask. Why did you propose to this girl and make her your fiance' and set a date and THEN decide, "hmmmm, I wonder what God thinks of my plans?" I'm not criticizing you, because I've done that many times - you know, jumping in head first and then wondering what God thought about it later. I'm just asking.

Whatever I decide to do, I need to be 100 percent sure.

The time to have been 100% certain was before you said, "Will you marry me?" Have the two of you planned for any premarital counseling? That's the first thing I would do. Find a competent Christian couple who have been married long enough to have weathered some storms of life and talk to them and talk to each other about doubts and fears. Maybe you just have the typical set of cold feet that some people get.

Whatever I decide could either fulfil God’s plan, or totally destroy it forever.

Destroy God's plan forever???? Dude, we don't have that kind of authority. Can we foul things up and become our own stumbling blocks? Sure. Can we make grievous mistakes? Yep. That's why He gets to be Lord and Savior.

What if he’s telling me not to marry her and I can’t hear him, so end up marrying her? What if he’s telling me to marry her but I think he’s saying not to? How do I know if my desire to marry her is God telling me I should, or because I’m too scared to be without her? Either way I have the power to totally screw it all up and I don’t want that power. I want God to decide.

Marrying someone because you are "too scared to be without" that person is a divorce waiting to happen. Fear of living a life alone or without this person should never factor into the equation. Fear should never govern your decisions.

You want God to decide if you should marry this girl or not? Certainly you want His blessing and His guidance, but as DaniH just told you - God ain't a matchmaker. I'm concerned that you are wanting the responsibility and drive for this decision all in His lap.

A person who has already given/accepted a marriage proposal and has already arranged a wedding date and is suddenly concerned about God's will is a person who is typically so madly and crazy in love and who is excitedly and greatly desiring God to put His stamp of approval on his or her decision.

You don't seem excited. You seem apprehensive and uncertain of your choice. You say you want to be 100% sure.

I think your best bet is to take the questions that DaniH asked you and to go over them with your fiance' AND to seek competent pre-marital counseling and go over those questions again with the counselor.

And I hate to act like Captain Obvious here - but - have your expressed these concerns with your fiance'? The sooner you do, the better. Don't let strangers on the internet be your sole sounding board. We should rank at the bottom of the advisory list.

[scottyscotts]

God doesn't arrange marriages.

He may bring certain people into our lives, but whether or not to get married to any of them, is a free-will choice .

It's your decision, mate. Don't be pinning this one on God. You make it. It's important that you do because the consequences will be for you to deal with, so you have to be at complete peace with it. You're a man and an adult. You're well capable of making your own life choices. God will give you guidance, and wisdom, but He will not rob you of your choices because He created us all with the ability to make our own decisions.

Oh really? I was always under the impression that he had someone picked out for all of us. Well that changes my view of everything entirely!

Is this woman your best friend and partner that you know beyond the shadow of a doubt you want to spend the rest of your life with? Do you want her to be the mother of your children, and grow with her in God together? Do you want to covenant with her at the exclusion of all others and grow old with her?

For 8 years that was all true. I always wanted to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her. Now… I’m not so sure.

I hope that I don't come off as flippant or unconcerned because I sense you truly want to please God and that's a very good thing.

I just have to ask. Why did you propose to this girl and make her your fiance' and set a date and THEN decide, "hmmmm, I wonder what God thinks of my plans?" I'm not criticizing you, because I've done that many times - you know, jumping in head first and then wondering what God thought about it later. I'm just asking.

Because I spent the last 8 years wanting to marry her. I knew I wanted to. Then not long ago I started having doubts and started wondering how God actually felt about it all.

The time to have been 100% certain was before you said, "Will you marry me?" Have the two of you planned for any premarital counseling? That's the first thing I would do. Find a competent Christian couple who have been married long enough to have weathered some storms of life and talk to them and talk to each other about doubts and fears. Maybe you just have the typical set of cold feet that some people get.

Yeah, I would love to do that. I’m not too sure how she would feel about that though. She found some online premarital course type thing for us to go through together. In terms of actually going to talk to someone, I’m starting to feel that she is against it because that person will challenge her view of marriage and her view of our relationship. That they’ll say that the way she treats me and wants our relationship to be is wrong. But I could be completely wrong in that.

Destroy God's plan forever???? Dude, we don't have that kind of authority. Can we foul things up and become our own stumbling blocks? Sure. Can we make grievous mistakes? Yep. That's why He gets to be Lord and Savior.

Lol, yeah… I guess where I was coming from was, what if God had planned for me to marry someone else, and then I go and marry my fiancée. I’ll then never be able to be with the person God wanted for me. Marriage is forever after all.

Marrying someone because you are "too scared to be without" that person is a divorce waiting to happen. Fear of living a life alone or without this person should never factor into the equation. Fear should never govern your decisions.

Yeah, I know. I just don’t know whether fear of that is governing my decision or not.

And I hate to act like Captain Obvious here - but - have your expressed these concerns with your fiance'? The sooner you do, the better. Don't let strangers on the internet be your sole sounding board. We should rank at the bottom of the advisory list.

Well, as you would have seen in my post a couple of weeks ago, I did try talking to my fiancée about some things that were bothering me and it almost destroyed her. They were just little things too. Telling her I have doubts about marrying her is a sure fire way to completely destroy her and guarantee we don’t get married.



Thanks for the advice guys. I really appreciate it. I realise now that this is something I need to work out on my own. You guys can give me all the advice in the world, but in the end it comes down to me. It’s my decision, not God’s. I guess all I can ask of him is for his guidance.

[Vhayes]

Should I just stop worrying about whether or not I’m following God’s plan because as long as I trust him, he’ll make it happen regardless of how much I screw things up?

Short answer - yes.

Long answer - yes.

Not trying to be a smart aleck but you've hit the nail squarely on the head, TRUST. He will take care of the rest.