The Devil Has A Plan For Your Life

Illustration: During Youth Group last week, I turned all of the lights off in the fellowship hall and positioned chairs in various locations throughout. I placed a blind fold on the teens and told them to try and get to the far end of the room without bumping into a chair. If they bumped into a chair they had to stop and sit down. Then I would get the next one to try the course leaving those that failed before them still sitting in the dark room creating yet more obstacles for the next ones. And trust me, the ones that were sitting down only created confusion for those that were attempting the course by trying to startle them.

I did let them see the room and where the chairs were located before I blindfolded them but what I didn’t tell them was that I was going to make sure that they bumped into a chair along their way. As one began their journey across the room I walked in front of them and moved chairs in their path. They never had a chance!

1.You see they knew where they were heading. They knew what to avoid. But they didn’t know that someone was out to get them. To take their focus off their destination, to trip them up, to discourage their journey.

2.This is kind of how it goes with us as well isn’t it? We know what we need to focus on and that’s Jesus. But as we go through life we bump into the obstacle of discouragement.

3.Our focus comes off of Christ and we look to ourselves. We become depressed and we feel as if we’re useless and we stop dead in our tracks doing nothing good for ourselves and nothing good for anyone else.

4.We then become obstacles to those around us and we discourage their progress because we are the filled with resentment and sadness because we feel that we have failed.

5.Misery Loves Company. We become hardened people and we feel beat up and useless. We have no happiness in our lives because discouragement has taken it and we become hateful and hurtful people.

6.The next thing you know, instead of being a servant to Christ we become a slave to Satan. And we in turn discourage others.

7.As I moved each chair not allowing the teens to make it through the maze it reminds me of how Satan places in us the obstacle of discouragement.

8.I had a plan that night and it was to stop every teen from making it to the other end. Satan too has a plan and it is to stop you. To build discouragement up in your heart so much that it is too full to allow anything of God to come.

9.This is the Devils plan for our lives but this isn’t the plan that God has for us. God wants to give us….

III.Deliverance – To make you into the person Gods wants you to be.

A.God has great plans for each of us and desires us to come to Him and He will deliver us from all the evil of this world.

Psalm 34:19 The righteous person may have many troubles,

but the LORD delivers him from them all;

1.This is something that I am not sure every believer really believes?

2.When we gave our lives to Jesus and began striving to live righteous lives, did we know that we would still have troubles?