Friday, November 22, 2013

God Will Fix Your Mess

by Donna L. Watkins

There are a lot of hours and minutes in our lives and in the process of living it we can make some big messes. Some people get stuck in those messes of life and don't move beyond the heartache and grief of them. The devil can convince us that we're worthless after making so many mistakes. There's no way that God can use us now, so we may as well crawl into his slime pit to whine and dine.

Donna on Butterfly Bench
A Gift From Our Friend, Charlie
That's not what the Bible says about our God. From the moment of conception God had a plan for our lives and He never gives up on fulfilling it in us as long as we don't give up. We have a choice whether to follow God and desire His will for our lives and He won't interfere with that, but when we truly desire to be what He created us to be, God will always come through.

God had chosen Saul to be king over Israel, but Saul sinned and instead of repenting justified his behavior of operating in the role of a priest instead of waiting for Samuel as he was instructed. When Samuel came Saul told him that he "forced himself" to do it because of the people. So he compromised his obedience.

Samuel told him that the Lord would've established his kingdom upon Israel forever if he had not disobeyed, and now it would be taken from him because God was seeking a man after His own heart. That was in his second year or reign. It was 38 years later that it ended. Another example that God's timetable is certainly not ours and even in judgment His mercy endures a very long time.

What's interesting is that we know David is the man God is talking about, but when God spoke this to Saul through Samuel, David wasn't born, so God was seeking this man after His own heart. It's incredible that there was nobody back then to fulfill that qualification. People who believe that God has control over everything don't always take into consideration that God gave us free will and He can only work within that framework. We always have the last say on whether we will obey God or not. That was obvious from the beginning with the choices that Adam and Eve made.

David took the throne when he was 30 years old, so this was spoken eight years before David was born. God can create us with a knowledge of Him, but we have free will in choosing what to do with it. Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

As a side note ... I often wonder how much God's prophecies to bring Jesus into the world through a virgin birth were delayed because He couldn't find a virgin with a heart for God. We certainly know that the nation of Israel was a stiff-necked people which kept them in the wilderness 40 years instead of the usual two-week journey from Egypt to Canaan. Sadly the entire generation that came out of Egypt was killed so their sin of resistance would not be irreversibly inherited by the next generation with nobody inheriting the Promised Land.

Back to David, who was actually Plan B for God after His Plan A (Saul) who instead of repenting for his disobedience, he justified it. God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud (James 4:6). We are told David was a man after God's own heart ... but certainly not a man without sin. We all sin and we serve a merciful God, but when our own pride gets in the way, we are asking for judgment.

When David was running from Saul all those years, he formed a close relationship to God as we often do in our own trials and tribulations. When he became king life wasn't as desperate. In David's day kings were supposed to be at war leading their troops. David had become so wealthy that he had generals to do the job for him, so he stayed at the palace, surely bored, and got into trouble with Bathsheba. When she conceived he had her husband killed and took her for a wife.

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Gray Fox
When Nathan confronted David with a parable of a man with only one sheep that a neighbor took and slaughtered, David said the man should be killed. Seemingly God had him pronounce his own judgment because he was told that the child would die. What if David would've leaned toward mercy for the man? I wonder if God would have done the same for him.

Regardless, after Nathan's confrontation, David responded by saying, “I have sinned against the Lord” and Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die” (2 Samuel 12:13).

David had his consequences and then God kept blessing him. He had another son with Bathsheba who they named Solomon (meaning peace) and "The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, He sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah" (2 Samuel 12:25) which means "beloved of the Lord." From the ashes of an adulterous affair, God brings forth a man who was to be the richest king who ever lived (2 Chron. 1:11-12).

God knows how to work things out for good when we humble ourselves unto Him. He blessed the marriage and Solomon writes about his mother (the virtuous woman) in Proverbs 31. We can make messes of our lives, but if we will turn our life over to God, He can fix the mess and bless us with incredible blessings through Christ Jesus.

Notice that God blesses the generations after us when we fall into line with His desires for our life. "I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign" (1 Chron. 22:9).

Maybe we weren't the parent we should've been. We know we did the best we could with the mental tools we had at the time. Nobody is trained and ready for parenthood; some do better than others because they had a better example growing up, but we are all lacking compared to the love and fathering of our Father in Heaven. It's past, you can repent one last time and leave it behind.

Reconcile with your children if you can, but remember free will is their option. Many children have had much worse childhoods than what you provided and they have risen above because within themselves God has provided a way, but it's their choice to remain in bitterness and blame mode, or to move on and be a walking miracle for Jesus.

You may have been on the receiving end of the abuse, but you have the same choice. Why give your entire life over to a short period of its duration? God has given us the ability to rewire our brain and rid ourselves of the toxic thoughts that bombard us daily.

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Camellia
N. Oconee River Greenway - Athens, GA
Maybe you're not sure you married the right person. You're married like David and Bathsheba, so don't look back, but instead get committed. Humble yourself, seek God, and realize that God can take where you are right now and work it all for good in your life. It will be an amazing journey and much more exciting than going from one marriage to another.

There is no life too messed up for God. He will take it if you give it to him and work it all out for your good. Often Romans 8:28 is cut short when quoted which makes it seem that God is going to turn everything to good no matter who you are. Not so! There are qualifications within the verse: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

So, you see that we have to love God and be willing to be called to His purpose for us, not our own. That brings up another verse, Romans 12:1: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

I like this translation of Luke 17:33: "If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it."

I look back over many years of willful living for what I wanted to do. Most of the good things that I did were not necessarily God things. With a fast mind and lots of ideas I felt I could do quite well making my own decisions. I would "pray about" them which was more like dropping off a list of what I planned to be doing, expecting God to bless it and bring great fulfillment to my soul. My soul was often gratified just in accomplishment, but my spirit was shrinking and feeling of no use in my life. I was definitely not a living sacrifice.

But God! When we do turn ourselves over to Him, He can use whatever we have and make it amazingly fulfilling and a huge blessing to others. I'm still seeking His will for my life and at least I am no longer running down the road toward my goals and desires and looking back to see if Jesus is keeping up with me or not. We may have made a lot of wrong turns and detours with our life, but God is great at correcting and getting us to His destination.  It's a daily choice of free will to be a living sacrifice and it isn't a natural choice.  It has to be made with our spirit ruling over our mind.

Like a GPS in a car, it is designed to get us to where we are going. If we make a wrong turn, it will still get us there another way as it speaks to you, "Recalculating." GPS systems are not 100% accurate, but God is. He will get more out of the rest of your life than you could ever imagine. You may have missed His call on your life in past years, but NOW is the time to let Him recalculate and get you to the most wonderful destination you can find this side of Heaven.

Related Articles
What's God's Will For My Life?
Coming To The End Of Myself
Thought Life (Dr. Caroline Leaf)

Related Resource
Book:  How to Find, Follow, Fulfill God's Will
Conference Video:  How To Find God's Will
Conference Video:  How to Follow God's Will
Conference Video:  How to Fulfill God's Will


Author Bio
Donna lives in Central Virginia with a wonderful husband and a cat named Squeek. She is a lover of God, nature, wildlife, birds, gardening, photography, travel, simple living, natural health, pets and seeking a peaceful, healing lifestyle. Life has many hurts and sorrows but within "the [divine] nature in us" we CAN overcome. You can also find her posts on Google+ and Twitter.


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