Plans III

 Those who lean on their own understanding may prosper for a season. Those who trust in the arm of the flesh may enjoy momentary victories. In the long run, however, all who trust in their understanding and all who trust in the arm of the flesh will flail and falter, fail, and fall by the wayside. It’s not because I want to see them fail but because the Bible says they will.

God is smarter than I am. God is smarter than you, too. It won’t bruise your ego to admit it. It didn’t bruise mine, and if demonstrably factual truths bruise your self-esteem or diminish your self-worth, then you’ve just got to toughen up, buttercup.

The distance you or I see is minuscule compared to God’s view of your life, existence, purpose, and calling. All you may see today is the rocky terrain before you, the endless climb, the trials upon trials that come like waves calling upon waves, and if you were alone, rudderless, and absent direction, surely you would have bent and broken long ago. God knows the end from the beginning. He doesn’t have to guess at it; He sees the thread of your life from beginning to end, and if only you would trust Him, obey Him, and submit to His will and authority, your destination will satisfy your soul in ways which you never fathomed.

It’s not that those who’ve learned to submit to God, trust Him, and defer to His will have an easy time of it, but their journey has one thing that those who do not know Him lack: hope. When considering what the Bible says, even something as magnificent as hope is insufficient to describe what we have in Him. It’s a mixture of sorts: parts hope, parts faith, and parts unwavering knowledge that God will make a way and bring us to a good end.

Romans 8:18-19, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”

When we eliminate the possibility of suffering on the journey, when all our expectations extend to are well-paved roads and sunshine all day, whenever the difficult season comes, whenever the climb becomes treacherous, we grumble and moan because we were promised something other than what we are experiencing. What we must remember in those seasons is that it wasn’t God who made those promises but men claiming to be His ambassadors.

God never promised days without rain. He never promised a life without storms, but through the storms and the trials, we eagerly await the revealing of the sons of God. God promised He would be a refuge to those who are His. He promised He would be a present help in times of trouble, not that they would be without trouble.

The process of becoming, the journey from where we are to where we will be, may require sacrifice, it may require hardship, but once we arrive, once we attain, once we know the fullness of what God has for His children, all the sufferings will not be worthy to be compared with that glory.

The arrogant boast. It is their nature, and I’m not referring to the arrogant of the world but those who insist they are of the household of faith. Their boasting will be short-lived, and as an added warning, James tells us that such boasting is evil. Yet another truth worth remembering is when you see supposed preachers boast of their mansions, jets, cars, diamond-encrusted watches, and overall fleeting possessions while they’re guilting widows who can barely survive to send them money for a thousandfold return.

You feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the helpless because you know it is good. You give of your time and resources because, to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him, it is a sin.

I’m often asked why we are not more aggressive in our fundraising, and the answer is that it’s not for me to tell someone what is good. It’s for them to determine for themselves what is good and then do the good they’ve been shown to do. We make needs known and leave it at that. One would assume some of the situations we feature would be fully funded because they seem so desperate. Yet, sometimes they aren’t, and others which are not as heart-wrenching are, because it’s God who speaks to the individual where to put their resources and designate their funds, and it’s their duty to respond.

We are all accountable to God. We are all accountable for the knowledge we possess and what we do with that knowledge in relation to His will and plans for our lives. It all boils down to submission, obedience, and the willingness to do the things that are difficult for the flesh and go against the grain of modern-day Christianity, where everything is about me, I, the blessings I can get, and the things I can be given.

God is an excellent accountant with a very long memory. For some, that is a reason for rejoicing, knowing that the merest kindness is remembered and accounted for, whether a glass of water for a thirsty soul, an encouraging word for someone hurting, or a meal for one who is hungry. Nothing we do on behalf of the kingdom is forgotten. Everything we do for the flesh remains only as long as we do. We seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness because these are lasting, permanent, eternal, and unshakeable. All the other things, the things the godless war over and scrounge for, are mere afterthoughts, and they will be added onto you because God promised it would be so.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.