Weekly Overview:

One of the most scandalous truths of the gospel is that our Creator longs to be encountered by his creation. God longs to meet with us. His greatest desire is for relationship with us. I can’t fathom why God in all his holiness and goodness makes himself available to us, but it is the powerful truth of Scripture. God is pursuing each of us with his relentless love, seeking out those who might respond to his open invitation by opening the door of their hearts to him. My prayer is that in response to God’s desire to meet with his people we would be those who say yes to centering our lives around his nearness. May your week be marked by the reality of God’s presence and love.

Scripture:“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11

Devotional:           

One of the most peaceful truths of Scripture is that God longs to share his will with his people. God is not one who leaves us to our own devices. He’s not even one who leaves us with the Bible and says, “Good luck. I hope you figure it out.” He’s the God who dwells within us, longing to speak into our lives and guide us into his perfect, pleasing plans.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 is an often quoted passage in Christian circles. But I pray that the powerful promise contained in its words will be revealed to you today in a fresh, transformative way. Scripture says,

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

We can place our hope in the revealed will of our heavenly Father. We can trust that we are not sheep without a shepherd, but rather those in the flock of a perfect, loving God who came to lay down his life for us. Through the Holy Spirit, God is perfectly capable of guiding us into his plans for “welfare and not for evil.” Behind his leading is always a more abundant, presence-filled life. Behind his leading is always more of him and more of who we are in him.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” God longs to make straight our paths. But in order to follow his leading, we must assess where our trust is and who we are acknowledging with our lives. We will never follow that which we don’t fully trust. If we are to be led by the Spirit we must trust that everything he tells us to do is absolutely the best thing for us.

Trust is meant to be the fruit of relationship. It’s meant to be birthed out of an experiential knowledge of God’s trustworthiness. If you haven’t given God much of a chance to prove himself trustworthy in your life, today is the day. We as the people of God must place our hope in him alone if we are to experience all the wealth of life his promises have to offer. We must place our trust in him if we are to receive a full knowledge of his will.

Take time to meditate on the trustworthiness of your God. Meditate on his desire to share with you his will. Take time to place your trust in him alone and commit yourself to following his leading. May your day be marked by all the fruit of God’s perfect, pleasing plans for your life.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s trustworthiness and desire to share his will with you.

“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:11-14

2. Where do you have a hard time trusting God? Where is your life not marked by his perfect, pleasing plans?

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

3. Ask God to reveal his will to you in those areas. Align your heart with his desires for you that you might experience the fruit of truly following his will. Place your trust in God alone for every area of your life.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

Oftentimes God’s perfect, pleasing plans don’t conform to the desires and wants of the world. But we have to place our trust in him that his ways are higher than ours. His desires and wants for us are better than anything we can imagine. He has eternity in mind when he leads us along with our present circumstances and desires. Trust that as you align your heart with him and place your hope in him alone, his leading will perfectly satisfy the deep desires of your heart.

Extended Reading: Isaiah 58

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