“You’ve got an agenda!” Once or twice I’ve had that comment thrown at me as if there were something wrong about coming into a meeting with a set of convictions or a plan to do something with those convictions.
Our agendas, of course, no matter how sincere they are, always have their self-centred flaws. But that is not the case with God.
He always has an agenda, and you’d better be sure of one thing: it’s greater than yours. No situation in your life is a surprise to God. He enters his meeting with you with an agenda to fashion your circumstances into an instrument of his will for your life. That can often mean pain, at least in the short term.
Let’s take an obvious example. Saul was a man on a mission. The problem was it was his own mission. God arrested him in the middle of his mission to destroy it.
Saul had his own wrong priorities, which he was absolutely certainly were right, even in terms of what he saw as God’s will. Priorities independent of God will blind you to the will of God for your life.
In Paul’s case, God had to blind him literally in order to set him free from the spiritual blindness that was destroying his life.
Those wrong priorities can be all sorts of things. Lots of them are not bad in themselves. In fact, many are good. Family, job, studies, financial security, staying in good shape, spending time with friends - all of these are good things, unless they come in the way of the will of God for your life. The moment any of them become more important to you than doing God’s will no matter what the cost, is the moment they become an obstacle to God’s will. And sooner or later, they will become an idol.
The test of your priorities always n the end boils down to two things: how you spend your time and how you spend your money. Saul had to learn the hard way. He got kicked off his horse, left blind for three days and had to rely on a man he had come to persecute to pray for his sight to be restored. Humbling, to say the least. And then he had to turn around and deny everything he had previously stood for, and do it before the whole nation.
I’m glad Paul found the Lord, but there is a better way to go about it than he did. He lost years of his life, and three days of his sight. How about deciding to find out God’s agenda for your life and submitting to it?
How do I find out God’s agenda? Easy. Number one: read the Bible. A lot. Take hold of the heart of God. Number two: surround yourself with people who love God. Number three: once you’ve got the message, obey it. Anyone can hear the Word, but not everyone does it.
Here’s the best thing: God’s agenda is always for your own good. Even when you don’t think it is.
Stop fighting and start submitting. You won’t regret it.
CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH DAVID & ELAINE CAMPBELL IN HELPING TO SUSTAIN THEIR ACTIVE MINISTRY.
AWAKENING MINISTRIES // FOUNDATION of FAITH Project
Foundation of Faith Project is strengthening generations in faith and bringing beautiful changes to the communities around them. Through teaching, mentoring and coaching, many are finding out who they are and who they are destined to be. They are bringing more to their world. David Campbell is the key leader in this initiative and you can support him financially directly through Awakening Ministries.
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