October 2015
Dear Friend,
Recently I was reading Habakkuk chapter 2 and I saw something in the first few verses that came out alive to me:
Habakkuk 2:2-4 (NKJV)
Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.
NKJV
I was reminded of this one simple truth: that God has a specific plan for each and every single one of us. And because His very nature is that of inherent goodness, His plans for us are therefore good (Jeremiah 29:11).
And His nature is such that He will not lie regarding His plan nor will He change His mind about that very plan (Numbers 23:19). He's seen the end of that plan from that very beginning, and declares that His counsel will stand (Isaiah 46:10).
It dawned on me that when God reveals His plan for my life, my response as His child is to have faith in Him that His plan for my life will come to pass as I keep walking with Him in each and every step.
At times, it will seem frustrating to wait for what you know to be the plan of God for your life to come to pass but be encouraged as the Jewish Believers were in Hebrews chapter 6,
Heb 6:11-12 (NKJV)
11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
It is through faith and patience that we will see what God promised come to pass in our life. It may take a while, it may be instant, but it will come to pass.
In his letter to the church in Rome, the Apostle Paul makes a distinction between the Gentiles and Israel, describing Israel as not having "attained to the law of righteousness", because they sought to attain to it through works (Romans 9:30-32).
Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah when he writes,
Rom 9:33 (NKJV)
As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
As true as it is that the one who believes Jesus will not be ashamed for his belief, it is interesting to see that Paul's quotation was slightly different from the original passage in Isaiah:
Isa 28:16 (NKJV)
Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Isaiah declared that whoever believes in that foundation stone (speaking of Jesus) would not act hastily. By reading what Isaiah wrote in parallel to Paul's writings in Romans, there is one conclusion I reached:
That if I believe in God, it's believing that what He said will come to pass. And if I believe Him, I won't act hastily (or rashly in the decisions that I make concerning my life); and therefore I won't be ashamed because I didn't make said decision.
Abraham, the father of faith; is a classic example of a person who acted hastily when he heard God tell him that he'll have a son. He acted with presumption and we're seeing the effects of that hasty decision till this day.
Just because God showed you some things concerning your future doesn't mean you have to immediately jump up and do something about it. In fact, He knows the future better than you do, so just trust Him! What you sense Him saying may oftentimes not necessarily be what He's telling you to do.
In his book Plans Purposes and Pursuits, the late Kenneth E. Hagin wrote the following:
Sometimes God will show you what He wants you to do - you will have His plan. But at the same time, you will perceive in your spirit that the time to do it isn't quite right. Learn to wait for the right time to implement God's plan - wait for the quickening of the Holy Spirit. At other times, God will show you things in the Spirit, and although you won't know everything God wants to do, as you fulfill what the Lord told you to do - little by little, you will move into deeper areas of the Spirit. As you are obedient to follow God's plan and His purpose, He will begin to illustrate and demonstrate some things to you and lead you into greater understanding of His plan.
There will also be times when you simply pick up on what the Spirit wants to do through others in the Body of Christ, but that does not mean that God wants you to do it.
... Many people who have some sensitivity to the Holy Spirit sense what God is doing and what He wants to do. They grab that and run off with it and try to build something from that. But because God didn't specifically tell them to do it, their plans are only man's plan, not God's plan or purpose.
Concerning RHEMA and Healing School, he also writes that other people wrote him letters asking him how to start up the same thing. They had a sense of it and thought that they were supposed to do it also.
....many of these people sensed in the Spirit that God was moving this way, and they thought He wanted them to do it. They didn't take time to wait before God to get His plan for themselves or for their church. When people sense which way God is moving, many times they assume God wants them to do something.
I am not perfect but I know this, I have a God who's perfect and who has a perfect plan for my life. So I'll rather not be presumptuous and think I should immediately start moving the moment I have a direction from Him. I still want to take time to ask Him the way He wants it done, and to do it His way.
I was also blessed to hear something Brother Hagin said at the dedication of Lakewood Church in 1988 (when John Osteen was still alive - it's amazing what you can find on YouTube!)
Keep crawling when you ought to be walking. And keep walking when you ought to be flying.
- Kenneth E. Hagin
It's far better to be a step behind God and know that you're walking in His plan for your life than to be two steps ahead of Him and face the unknown wondering whether this is the right direction to take.
Take time to wait on Him. Listen to what He tells you to do, then as you hear, take time to walk it out. It's not a matter of being the first to finish the race, it's that you finish it.
Blessings,
Ken
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