Intro: a preacher visited a home one day and the mom was terribly upset that the family bible wasn’t on the coffee table. As they sat with the minister she told her daughter to go get the book that we all live by in mommies room. The daughter reappeared a few minutes later with the J.C. Penney catalog. I love that story To be really honest, the book that most of us would have to bring out would be our yearly planner. The pocket one, the notebook size, the desk and wall calendar of events.
But today, as we look toward 2007, the most important planner isn’t ours, but the one God has for our lives. The two most asked questions we get as ministers are, “why do bad things happen to good people?”, and “how do you know God’s will for your life? Today we will concentrate on the second question with the message, “ Is God your Master planner.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14
background: the amazing thing about these verses is that God gives this prophetic word when everything is going wrong in the lives of His people. Right when you would like God to come and sulk with you a while, he comes with the message, “ I’ve got a feeling everything’s going to turn out right.” Today, here is God’s Master plan for our lives, but the first key to this Master plan, is you have got to give God full control of your life for the plan to work.
Here is the Master Plan
I. God has Good Plans For You–v.11Pastor, that is just too simple for me. I want details, I want to know why this happened and that happened. My life isn’t going the way I want it to, so I need answers. Today, if you give your life fully to God, He has good plans for your life.
a. a life full of peace–preacher you take the cake, with all the things in my life, you are saying God wants me to have a peaceful life, does He know the chaos that I am in right now. God gives peace, not that everything in your life will be peaceful, not that you won’t face all the same trials as everyone else, but God will put a peace in you that the world can’t take away, and give you a peace that passes understanding.
b. give you an expected end–the problem with us is that we live our lives from front to back, but God who is Alpha and Omega, sees our life from end to start. He isn’t waiting for things to happen, He is already ahead making a way where there seems to be no way. This is a wonderful verse, God says, I’ve read the last chapter of your walk with Me, and I will tell you the rest of the story, you are going to win in the end. He has skipped the 50, 60, 80 or even the 100 years of life, to the very last second, and see’s that you will get the desire of your heart.
II. Your Prayers will be heard–v.12 the next part of the Master plan is that you will pray, and God will hear, and answer your prayers. This is a wonderful plan for our lives, we pray, God hears, and God answers.
a. prayer is the key that unlocks God’s will for our lives. Ye have not because ye ask not (James 4:2). Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it will be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7)
ill) I love the commercial about the cars that have a navigational system that gives you directions to where you are going. Turn here, go left, three miles ahead. God is your navigational system. You can’t even walk without Him holding your hand. If you go ahead of God, you will get in trouble, if you walk too far behind, you will see destruction, if you walk away, you will fight your battles alone.
b. I love all the E.M. Bounds books, and Reese Howell intercessor. Both of these praying giants, along with praying Hyde, found power was released into their lives because of prayer. It reminds me of the two preacher’s wives that were sewing together. The one preacher’s wife was saying how bad things were in the ministry, the other was saying how good things were in ministry. The one with the negative report was sowing the seat of her husband’s pants, while the one with the good report was sowing the knees on her husband’s pants.
III. You Are Going To Know God–v.13-14a–ye shall seek me and find me, when you seek for me with all your heart, and I will be found of you. The next part of God’s Master plan is that you are going to know God in a personal, intimate way. Not just a ritual, not just a religious experience, but a day by day walk with God. Just like the great hymn, “ and He walks with me and He talks with me, and tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”
1. You will know His presence–no matter what struggle you face, no matter what battle you encounter, you will know that God is with you. He will never leave you or forsake you.
2. You will know His voice–the sheep knows the Shepherd’s voice. The more time you spend with God the more you will know God. You can’t know God from a distance. There is a song that seems to be a very spiritual song, and it is sung by Bette Midler. It says God is watching us from a distance. But I don’t need a God that watches from a distance, I need a God that is as close as the mention of His name. I need someone who knows the tears on my pillow, the silent cry in the middle of the night. Someone who speaks peace and my troubles turn into calm.
IV. Final Results of the Master Plan–v.14
I will turn away your captivity
I will gather you
I will bring you home
a. What the enemy has meant for bad, God will turn it too good. Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed. Your bondage will be loosed, your sorrow will be turned to laughter, when redeemed you shall stand.
b. I will gather you–the ultimate end results of life, are those gathered for glory, and those gathered for destruction. God’s ultimate plan for your life, is that none should perish but all should inherit eternal life. The things that are seen are temporary, but the things unseen are eternal(2 Corinthians 4:18).
c. I will bring you home–we look for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. God will bring you home.
close: do I know God’s will for your life in every detail, no? Will you understand every step of the way, no But I do know this, it isn’t as important to understand the Master plan, as it is to know the Master planner. In Him we live and move and have our being. Over the years I have met a lot of people who are waiting for God’s will in their lives. But to be truthful, God’s will is found as a process not a one time event. It is as you are faithful in the little, that you will be given more. My mom said something that is very profound the other day, it was this: You won’t fully understand your life until you have lived it. So don’t sit around waiting for lightning from the sky, walk every day with the Master planner, and day by day you will discover His plans.
If this message has touched your life, please let it change your life. Accept Jesus Christ, He has some great plans
for you. May God bless you with His best.
