Timeless Truth: His Plan (July 24')

It's very tempting to just say what Doug said, and let's go home. I have had thoughts on my mind and a big part of me says, "Let somebody else do it." And it seems like no matter what I say or think about, the Lord has brought up thoughts today that I believe are on His heart. And I'll go ahead and read, I haven't known how to pursue this. I got up this morning and I said, "Lord, is this really you? What do I do?" And instead of going back to a long list of scriptures, I just sat and meditated. And I went to one just as a starting point, and I'll go ahead and use it as a kick-off. It's a familiar scripture in Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah was a prophet in a difficult time to say the least. Judgment had fallen upon the kingdom of Judah. They had had some good kings, but they had generally had a bad trajectory. Spiritually they had fallen into idolatry, and the time for judgment had finally come. He lived through it. But yet there were messages throughout that were not only talking about how bad things are and how necessary judgment is, but also focused on a remnant of people that God was preserving in all of that. Aren't you glad that God knows how to preserve His own no matter what happens? He has people that are His, knows how to bring us through. He will be, as we say, faithful to the end. And so this was a message to them because God had allowed them to be carried over to Babylon. He the Empire, Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and many others were among those who were carried away. And there were false prophets among them who said, "Don't worry, you're going to go back to the night and the Lord said, "No, don't listen to them. God's going to have you there for 70 years, but don't worry, He's got plans." So you settle down and trust God. Wouldn't that be a good thing for us to do?

Scroll down and trust God, praise God, boy, do we fight and fuss and worry. But anyway, the essence of God's word to them, I believe, applies to every time in history and to all of God's people. It's not just something we can relegate to history or to a theology lesson. God wants to talk to me this morning and to all of us. And verse 10, "This is what the Lord says. When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. And you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." I wonder how many people here really believe God loves you, number one. And then He has a plan for your life, not just some vague general, "Oh, live for God and go to heaven one day," but a real plan. And how many of you would say, "Yes, if you were to sit down and have a test on paper about truth," and you would check the box, "Yes, God has a plan for my life." But how many of us really and truly believe that and live that out? And I think part of what's been on my heart and on the Lord's heart is just true for every one of us. And I believe He's concerned about young people, especially because we have a wonderful group of young people. We love every one of you. And you are at a time in your life when you're having to grow up, leave a household and begin to make plans about your own adult life apart from just living in the family. And we live in a messed-up world and it has its own philosophies, as Brother Doug was saying, for example, you will hear the statement, "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail." And the whole philosophy of earthly thinking is to look at your own situation, your own interests, your own abilities, and your aspirations. What are your inborn desires and just go for it?

But what does it all center in? Self. It's all about me. How can I make something out of myself in this world and get what it has to offer? position to be a billionaire or whatever it is, people tend to make their own plans, don't they? And to feel like, you know, well, and if you want the Lord, if you have any sense of, "Well, my life really needs to honor Him in some way," then it almost gets down to, no, it doesn't know almost. It often gets down to, "Come bless my plan, Lord." But the reality is, God has a plan for your life and it covers everything in your life. And I felt like Lord wanted me to emphasize this because as with everything, there are two ditches you can go into. One is, "I'm just going to live my life and expect the Lord to somehow bless me." You know, I'm nobody, yes, maybe the important people in the Bible, yes. God sometimes really directed them in specific ways. But me, I'm just supposed to make my way in the world, marry the person I want to, live where I want to do the, you know, whatever I want to do, go and do that. Whatever my aspirations are with respect to making money and making a living, that's kind of up to me. As long as I don't rob banks and I'm a really bad person, I'm okay. I am persuaded that God has a particular plan for everyone's life. Interesting, I had an email come in the other day and it had to do, it was a burden for the young people. And it had to do with the issue of marriage and mate and how easy it is for us to plan and follow natural desires in that area. And it was a testimony from Mary Lee down in Florida, I'll go ahead and name her. But anyway, she gives a testimony of the things that she went through and it looked like for a while that everybody else was getting married off and she wasn't and what was wrong and what was the Lord's plan and how God just brought her step by step through to a place where she surrendered and trusted. And she's had a husband for many, many years and a good, fruitful life. And that's just one of the many issues to say, I haven't had, every time I tried to organize this, the Lord shut me down. So this is going to sound disorganized, that's okay. But I think it needs rather than just a theology lesson of all the scriptures that talk about this because the Bible is full of them, I'm going to go ahead and share some things that I have shared in the past as more of a, something of a testimony because this doesn't work in our lives, it is just a theology lesson. Do you really believe that God does care and does have a plan

and it's for everybody, it's for every member of the body of Christ, just exactly what Doug said. You're a member in particular, God cares about you, he doesn't want you just living a random life and then just coming to church and feeling like everything is okay, God wants you in a particular place for his purposes. I grew up in a movement which had become a denomination at that point and there was a great deal of missionary emphasis. Now most of you know my father was a minister, so I grew up there and the Lord in his mercy, I believe he brought me to faith at a very young age and I don't take any credit for that. How are we saved? By grace. So he has to do the, he has to do the work and the saving including moving on a heart to repent and to believe and making it possible to do all that. So to him all the glory, certainly no reflection on me. But I grew up in that particular atmosphere and there was always the sense that I needed to do God's will. My purpose was not just to seek out my own will and do that, but one of the features of life in that movement had to do with missionaries, obviously, they were very mission-minded and the pattern was for a missionary to go and serve what they called a term which was maybe four or five years they'd be out there on the mission field. Then they would come home for what they call furlough and furlough was typically a year or so. Some of that they would be just allowed to go home and relax and just kick back and you know really have a vacation, but part of it they were expected to travel around and speak. And of course the logic behind that was let's keep promoting missions, let's report on what's happening. We want everybody to be to be engaged and to pray, but a lot of the emphasis of missionary God wanted them. And of course, the kicker was if God wanted you to be a missionary and go to the darkest heathen continent and share the gospel, would you be willing? And that's a fair challenge, isn't it? Regardless of what the particular issue is, that was oftentimes an appeal that I remember many, many times, and I remember times when the Lord would move on my heart, and I would surrender. And it wasn't, you're surrendering to make a decision to be a missionary. No, it wasn't that. It was just do you, are you willing to do God's will, whatever it is, if it includes something like that.

And that was very appropriate. And I thank God for allowing me to grow up in that atmosphere. And I grew up with a conviction, yes, I'm surrendering my life and I feel like that's the direction that He wants me to go anyway. You know, we think God's got to, you know, get down to the nitty-gritty, everyday detail. No, there's a direction, there's a sense of purpose. And all we can do is walk in what we know. He doesn't lay it all out for us and say, "Here's my plan, there it is, look way down into the future." No, we take a step, we walk with Him, we get up in the morning, we pray, we look to Him, our attitude is, "I want your will." And so, you know, I guess I could have had opportunities to do a lot of things. I had the credentials to have gone about anywhere, but that doesn't matter. I mean, what is anything in this world matter when you come right down to it? If a man gains the whole world but loses his soul, what does he have? I mean, how many lives are wasted because they're pursuing the same goals that the world is doing things the same way the world does. And so, in my case, I felt a peace and a sense of direction to go to a Bible college. And my aim there was, again, in the direction of foreign missionary service. And so, I just pursued that, and of course, in the course of time, we very quickly became acquainted with a young lady. And, you know, with some often on, the Lord seemed to develop that relationship. But you know, there's a, that's one of the biggest issues of life. And you need to realize that because God is the one who designed men and women to come together in marriage, in a relationship, to produce godly children and is a part of his plan. He built in all the desires that are part of that. But, oh my, do we tend to serve them if we're not careful and to make base decisions on natural desires and attractions. And how many times do we see people get to find this connection of mutual attraction

and there's a pull and sometimes it's physical, sometimes emotional, or it's all the above. And you get somebody who's strong and willful about it. And then you see the things go sideways, oh God, help us. Do you believe that God has a plan and a purpose for your life in this area? Do you believe somebody, God's got somebody in mind and when and how and where is up to him? And I believe with all my heart as much as we knew to, as much as light as we had to walk in, I believe both of us wanted the Lord's will and both of us were pursuing missions as a likely outcome. You know, even there you walk in what you know, okay? God has the plan. He can change things up when the time is right and if he has a different plan, but all we can do is walk in what we have and God wants us to have a rest, a peace and a joy in just doing that and trusting in him that he knows what he's doing. And so I remember a point in our relationship when, you know, I knew how we felt and a natural projection would have been for us to marry at some point, but I didn't have any definite direction as to what and when and all of that. And I will never forget one evening in the dormitory. I could guess when it was, but anyway, it doesn't matter. And I was sitting around with two or three of the guys and all of a sudden I had this incredible sense of freedom. Now, it doesn't happen the same way with everybody. And I mean, I was talking about it. I was talking to the guys about, you know, there are student married couples apartments the college has. I wonder what it takes to get on the list to be part of that. I mean, my mind was just racing it through all this business. It wasn't even that I was trying to have those feelings. They just came over me and I've sensed this freedom. Well, later on, I don't remember the timing of all of this, but later on, and I will expose this, but I think I've said it before anyway. So in talking to Sue, I found out that at the very hour that I was experiencing that she was going through something that I didn't know anything about. Now, she was already a nurse. And so she was living in the nurse's quarters, I guess,

a special little house for them. And somehow she was wrestling with something. Now, nobody else would ever wrestle with this. But the question the Lord would put to her was, "If I called you, and I wanted you to be a missionary and to go out and not be married, would you be willing?" You know, the Lord puts our faith to the test and things like that. Would you be really willing if that was the case? And it was a real wrestle. It was a real question. And it would be for a lot of people. So don't think you're spiritual. You know, there are issues that every one of our lives, things that we get attached to with our wills and God's going to touch everything. If we're going to truly be surrendered and be His, we can't hold on to anything and say, "Okay, God, you can touch anything in my life, just not that. We're going to have to lay it all." You know, I think I've mentioned before, we sang a chorus frequently when I was growing up. "Lord of all, Lord of all, Christ must be Lord of all, Lord of all, or not Lord at all. Christ must be Lord of all." And we sang a lot of things back in those days, but that was a good one, wasn't it? So anyway, there she was in the dormitory wrestling with that, and there came a point where she said, "Yes, Lord, if that's what you want, I'm willing." And it was a genuine surrender. Well, when we compared notes later, that was the time when I felt what I felt in the dorm, and I hadn't tried. I'll tell you, God has a way of leading us if we really want Him to. What does the Scripture say? "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct or make your paths straight." That's what God is looking for, is a people who are surrendered to Him, who recognize that this world is not our home. It isn't about what we accomplish here, or who we are, or what we can lay our hands on and call ours, or what are the pleasures we can enjoy that are just all centered Himself. As Brother Doug said, he called us to serve. That's got to be the heart of it. But I'll tell you, God has a place and a purpose for every life. He doesn't call everybody to live in poverty or riches. If He's made you poor, He'll take care of you. He feeds this barrel, has track of all your heads, all your hairs on your head, and those on Brother JP's chin. Sorry, I had to throw that in. There goes number 30,300, you know, whatever. But God knows about all of those things. I'll tell you, we need to learn how to put everything in His hands and trust every issue that comes up. There is nothing about this world that is worth clinging to if it means separating ourselves from His plan and His... I mean, His plan is eternal.

His plan doesn't end with the grave. I mean, the things we've sung about this morning, they were perfect. His plans. When our plans, you know, fail and we sang that song, I mean, I'm sitting there saying, "Okay, Lord, all right." I was hoping for somebody else and then Doug got started. But anyway, that's okay. God knows what He's doing, doesn't He? He has a plan even for this morning. Bless her heart. I married an angel who was a nurse. She married a part-time garbage man and a part-time janitor. I got up early in the morning to collect garbage and then work from six to ten in the evening as a janitor for a while. So anyway, I come home smelling like you know what, both times. And bless, I got an angel and she got stuck with me, with a guy like me for 58 years, so here so far. But anyway, I got the better of that deal, no question about it. But I'll tell you, God has led us step by step. All we knew at the time was this seems to be the course the Lord has us on. There's a piece in doing what we're doing, so let's just do the next thing. Wasn't trying to plan it all out. And the next thing was to apply to the mission board and we were accepted. And I spent a year in their graduate school admissions and then the next step was to come to home service for a couple of years. Well, I didn't have any particular preferences, tell me where to go. And so where they told me to go was in Ashboro and a little church that was struggling at the time. And so part of their aim was for me to rescue the church a little bit and also to see what I did for two years. But you know, God had in all of this, my God has a way of working. I had experienced a spiritual hunger throughout all of this. I was constantly looking over the fence and looking here and looking there. What about this? And reading about people who had a deep sense of spiritual accomplishment, I guess is not

the word, but who had a relationship with the Lord and experienced Him in ways that a lot of people didn't. It wasn't just tradition anymore. It was something that was real. And there was a hunger for that. And I mentioned that we went to a church. It wasn't even part of the movement at the time. But they had life. Didn't even have to disagree or agree with every little doctrine they had, but they had life. The Lord was there. That's what I wanted. That's what we wanted. And so we came on down. That was the next thing to do. And so we came down and began to just do what came to hand. Most of the time that's what the Lord is looking for. Just look to Him, get up and do what comes to what comes to hand. And so we did that and just had this sense. We went there in the beginning of the summer and around December. I just kept having this sense. Something is about to change. I feel this hunger, this desire, but I don't know what to do about it. Lord, it's up to you. What's your plan? And unbeknownst to me, of course, the church here in Southern Pines, the old tabernacle was experiencing this tremendous outpouring of God's Spirit as revival. And guess who? The main guy holding the church together there. He was the Sunday School superintendent.

He was an elder. Was a guy named Jen Hartman. And so the Hartman's were there. You know, Paul's wife was a nine-year-old when we first met her. So anyway, we labored there, and I tried to get up and have something from the Lord and the Lord blessed in a measure. And I just had this sense. Something is where we're kind of, but I don't know what's going to change. I have no idea. Lord, I'm in your hands. I don't know what your plan is, but I want it. Is that a key? God will lead you if you want Him. If you're looking for an excuse to do your thing, He'll step back and let you fall in the mud, or let you go your way and think you're okay, but you're not. God wants our hearts that are just looking to Him and waiting upon Him. And so while we were off on a New Year's Eve service, and I even got to testify from the platform with the U.S. congressmen, it was just kind of crazy, but anyway, while I was doing that, Jen was visiting this little strange church in Southern Pines, because Ivy Hammer was a guy he worked with. Some of you know the history there, but anyway, he came back and told me all about it, and whoa, as I interested instantly, brought back papers, and I can't remember if he brought but he made a--he told me about it, and I said, "Whoa, there's something here I need to find." A week after that we made another visit and that happened to be Brother Thomas' first visit back he had just gone to Jacksonville and so we got to meet him and just one thing led to another and all I could do was say Lord I want your plan whatever it is and I don't know what it is but I want it and I'm not tied to any plan and not just because I signed it to be missionary doesn't mean that's absolutely got to be it and not everything else get out of the way I just I lay it on on my on the altar Lord what is your plan that's what

I want and so in about two or three months it became evident that the Lord's plan was for me to step away from the group that I had been a part of and there are good people there probably undoubtedly to this day so I don't mean that in any critical sense but the Lord had a plan for me anyway and you suffered ever since but anyway we we began to visit and I tried we tried to have services there and Jen and Pat's home for a long time I thought oh well we're supposed to do it here what they're doing there and finally the Lord dried that up and arranged for us to begin to come and so we were coming we there are four services a week in those days four full-time services some of you remember and we were coming from Ashboro and in all all four services and Jen would come when we'd go home and and he'd go to work in the next morning and I guess by that time also we were we had moved out we lost the parsonage obviously they provided us a simple little house again we didn't care about it's got to be this has got to be that we were just we just had a place so like all we ever cared about and so we went and lived in the third story basically of the Hartmans thank God for their faithfulness and putting up with us and you know we came to a point where we felt like we need to actually move down here well some of you remember where that was I was in the old hotel in Lakeview an old rundown building that was you know on his last legs and his since long gone but anyway we moved down there and lived in some rooms upstairs and just basically camping up there we had one that was a kitchen one that was a bedroom one that I set up as an office I guess I had a desk that everybody loved to move up there that was that was kind of one of the stories but anyway I'm not going to go through all the details but but in all of this it was just Lord I'm at rest trusting in you I can't take any credit I can't say well I'm I was a super spiritual no I was anything but but you know God knows where you're at he's got a plan for your life it's unfolding he knows what we're made of he knows how to take our mistakes and turn them around if we'll if we want him if you really want him he can take the mistakes that you make and bring forth gold from them and I've said many times there are many times in our lives where we fail but if we're looking to the Lord we can fail forward instead of it being a step back and oh I've messed up God's mad at me no God is reaching his hand down to pick us up and say here's what you need to learn this is the way forward exactly what Doug said you don't dwell on the things that have happened in the past and so the

Lord you know it's never been about oh I've got to have this I've got to have that we had a way to get around and money to live on enough to you know have food on the table and a place to live we eventually wound up in Lake City for a while we're there helping dig the foundation of the church at one point and living in a roach infested house when he first got down there and the Lord got us through that and I bought a used mobile home and we lived there for a while and it looked like we were going to be moving back here I believe we stole that to Jim and Peggy Johnson I think and moved in with our in-laws for more than a year so I mean you know we haven't really the focus has never been on what what do we possess oh we need a house we need this we need the other God has given us what we've needed it's never been about that thank God oh there's a freedom and just simply serving the Lord and saying God show me your plan unfold it I'll drop this in because you can go in other directions the one side of the other of the of the one ditch again is self will but the other side of the ditch there's two different things that you could emphasize one in every little thing. And I remember, I'm sure Sue remembers this guy too, that there was a guy that we went to college with. And he was older. He had been in the, I believe it was the Korean War. And he had a case of what we would call today PTSD, post-traumatic traumatic stress syndrome. And it messed with him. And he was one of these struggles to get back to any semblance of normal life. It just messed with his mind, his emotions. But there was something in him that said, I want to serve God, I want to walk in his will. And the devil took advantage of it, I believe. And so his concept of walking in the will of God, my God that guy didn't have to go to the bathroom

without getting a word from God. I'm not exaggerating too much. He would literally get up in the morning and, okay God, what am I supposed to do today? Am I supposed to go to breakfast or not? I mean, sir, wanting God's will is not like driving to the end of a road and saying, oh God, do I turn right or do I turn left? Oh God, please. Most of serving God is getting up and doing what comes to hand, but always with the sense, Lord, I want to be led by you. And I know that if I need to know something, you can tell me. I'm not going to sit here and worry about all that. And of course, along with that idea that concept that I've got to have some special word from the Lord to know to do this or to do that. And I just can't, there's a sense of uncertainty. My God, this world is uncertain enough without trying to serve God with uncertainty. The certainty comes from trusting in the Lord with all your heart. Trust is faith that he actually loves me and has a plan and is willing to let me know what it is, what I need to know it. He's faithful to the end. Kind of reminds me some of the songs we sang this morning. And so he wants us to occupy a place where if we are anxious about something,

oh, what does Paul say about that, by the way? Be anxious for nothing. Now obviously, we all get that way at times. The devil is quick to point out and say, what about this and what's going to happen? And I don't know. And God wants us to take every uncertainty, lay it at his feet and believe him that he has got this as the expression goes. And then leave it there. We don't just transfer our burden to him and then take it back. We leave it with him and say, Lord, I trust, I am actively trusting. That's what trust is. It's faith in action. It means I have committed this thing into your hands. It's not my job to be anxious about it or worry about how it's going to turn out. If there's something I need to know, you know how to get up with me. And I don't need some special supernatural experience to know that. I believe you can give me a quiet witness in my heart. You know, the scripture says that you will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way you walk in it. Now, that doesn't mean we have to hear voices and have experiences necessarily like we imagine it. But I believe God can give a witness about things that matter to him.

And I thought about one scripture and you can turn to it later. But in Colossians chapter three, Paul has already laid the foundation of what we have to stand on because of what Christ has done. But now he's talking to the Christians about how to live, you know, seek what's above and not what's on the earth, love one another, turn away from sin, embrace righteousness, all those things that we can do because of what he's done. But one of the things he said was and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. And the sense of the word rule is almost like an umpire. Now, what's the job of an umpire in a baseball game, for example? The pitcher throws a ball and he calls it strike or ball, however, whatever the signal is, I've forgotten. But anyway, he calls it whether it's a ball or a strike. Well, I'll tell you, God has a way of witnessing to our hearts if we will stay tuned and want his will to start with. What I want to know your will and I am depending on you, I am trusting in you to let me know. To give me a witness. Well, that witness is going to be his peace. By the way, what happens when we take our anxieties to the Lord? Bye.

That's what God wants. It's not a life of anxiously, "Oh God am I doing it right? Am I in your will? What do I do? Where am I headed? I don't know how to make a choice." God wants us to hand those issues over to Him. And when there is a witness of peace, we get up in the morning. We don't have to say, "God should I eat breakfast or not?" And nighttime comes, "Lord am I supposed to go to bed tonight?" No, we just live our lives with a sense of humbly looking to God and trusting in Him knowing that He's got this. And I'll tell you, I can tell you from a lot of years, more years, and it's amazing where they've all gone. But anyway, my baby sister just turned, she's probably listening to this, but anyway, my baby sister just turned 3/4 of a century. So time is definitely passing, but I can tell you from personal experience, I haven't planned out my life. I could not have looked down the stream of time and had any imagination as to where it was leading. And another thing, I didn't come here to be somebody. I remember that issue coming up many, many years ago there was something that happened. And I made that statement, I didn't come here to be somebody or to be something or because I had aspirations. I just came because this is where I felt like Lord wanted me. This was His people. I just came to be here. And that's up to the Lord what He wants to do with us, whatever He wants to do with you. He might make somebody here a billionaire. Well, He can do that, but I'll tell you, it's not so you can just live a selfish life. He'll give you resources that you can share with somebody else. He'll give you a heart that's focused on others. If you're poor, I mean, what did Paul say about that? I have learned in whatsoever state, I am to be content. And I can tell you, with Sue and me, we have been in all kinds of places, just about camping out here, camping out there. And we built our forever home 47 years ago, we're still in our starter home, but it's enough. I mean, we don't have to worry about downsizing, we haven't got room to change our mind as it is. But thank God, we've had what we've needed. God is faithful. It's not about this. Whatever God's plan is for your life, I pray that our young people will lay it all on the altar and say, God, what do you want me to do with my life? Where do I work? For me, it was a garbage man at one time, and that was okay. Praise the Lord. And other types of, I had factory jobs. I remember one factory job I had for a time, and I turned it over to Brother Carl. When I left that job, I mean, you know, we just need to lay those things on the altar and say, God, what is your plan? Do you want me to go to school? If so, where, when, how? And the biggest one, besides coming to faith in Christ and surrendering your life is, who is my mate? And you will have every kind of natural desire. Rise up and try to take you down the wrong path if you're not careful. But there has to come a time when you lay that down and say, Lord, I just want your will. I'll tell you, think about how the Lord planned for Isaac. And you could say, oh, well, Isaac, he was important. God had a plan for Isaac's wife, didn't he? And Abraham sent his servant to get one from his father's household.

So what did the servant say? Well, I'm going to go and, I've got a checklist here. She's got to be pretty. She got, no, he just said, God, I don't know. I'm depending on you to show me. Well, in that particular instance, he asked for a sign, didn't he? Now, there's a kind of sign seeking this wrong. If you're looking for an excuse to not believe, but I mean, there's a time when, oh, God, I want to know your will. And I'll tell you, there's no one way. It all happens. But in this instance, God did give him a very clear sign, didn't he? And God absolutely overshadowed. And he was praising God for sending me to the house of his master's family and to getting just the right person. And he brought her back and basically Isaac met her on the honeymoon. And it was just the Lord's choice. That's what you need. That's what I need. Don't you go chasing and your natural inclinations. Don't go following your heart. My Bible says, "He who trust in his own heart is a fool because we, everyone are born with natural desires. And if we follow them instead of what the Lord has, we're gonna make a mess. You know, woe to those who build a fire and walk in the flocks of the fire you build. This, you'll have on my hand, you shall lie down and summarize, they are 10." But God, I don't know, there's so many scriptures you could refer to, and as I say, this is not at all what I was imagining yesterday, but I think this is what is needed. It's more testimony. I can tell you God is faithful. I don't have to sit here and look it up in a theology book. God has led us every step of the way. We thought it was going one direction and we were surrendered and we did what we knew to do at the time. And then when God turned the path and went in a different direction,

we didn't say what, but this is what I'm supposed to do God. We just said, okay, Lord, we want your plan and your will. And there was a peace in it, in doing it. That's the God we serve. He doesn't want his children living with anxiety about the world and where it's going. You know where it's going. He doesn't want us living with anxiety about, oh God, I got to do your will and I'm going to mess up here. Oh God, oh, that's terrible. What a horrible caricature of walking in God's will that is. The scripture that we just referred to talks about the peace of God will keep your hearts in mind. That's an ongoing thing. That's not just an event. That's a state where Lord, I am in a state of surrender to you. I'm trusting you actively as I get up and go about my day. If I need to know something, I am trusting you to reveal it to me. If you want to open a door, you open a door. If you want to shut a door, shut it. You think of Abraham who talked about how the Lord dealt with Sue that one time. What about Abraham? Yeah, God brought him through what, 25 years and more than that. A whole bunch of years when he was waiting for a son, a son miraculously was born to him. And then he got to a certain age and the Lord said, take him and sacrifice him. I'll tell you, God's going to have a way of testing

whether we really want his will or not. And I'll tell you the one thing that I could tell every one of you is just lay it on the line. If God puts his finger, this is everybody, I just young people, if God puts his finger on an issue in your life, lay it down. If he puts his finger, his grace will make it possible for you to lay it down. Sometimes it'll be a battle. Oftentimes it is. We don't realize the strength of self. I'll tell you, we need a savior. I thank God we got one and he's not going to stop working until he finishes the job. He's got a job to do, but he is well up to the task to him be honor and glory. But I'll tell you again, the life God has chosen for us is not a life of strife and struggle and anxiety. We can leave the course of this world in his hands. I mean, it comes down to one thing. Think about Paul writing to all the different churches. And I think it was in Philippians. He was writing out of prison to the believers there. I think that was one of the scriptures that JP read was from the beginning of Philippians. But at one point he's talking about his own circumstance. And he says, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. How can you lose if you say God, my life is in your hands." Now, for Paul, think about what that meant.

It meant suffering, it meant imprisonment. It meant a whole lot of stuff, but he looked at that and he said, "That's temporary. I am doing everything I'm doing for an eternal goal." Well, I don't know how that plays out in every individual life. We've got brothers and sisters right now who are suffering persecution overseas. Some of them are being killed. Every day you hear reports of so-and-so being killed and so-and-so dying over there and dying in a different place. Paul said to me to live is Christ, as long as I'm here, I'm gonna serve him and do his will. Just like my Savior, he didn't come to do his own will, but the will of him who sent him. And if the Lord's purpose is to take me out, well, that's better yet. Or today, the Lord knows what He's doing, doesn't He? Don't we serve an awesome God? Praise God. I'm just trying to think what's the name of this, maybe His plan, as good as any, I guess, but what's your plan? Young people, what's your plan? Is your plan something you can genuinely lay on the altar? Suppose He has a plan for someone here that isn't going to be married. Is that okay if that's His plan? That was God's plan for Paul? But yet He said in writing about the subject of marriage, He said, "Yeah, but every man has their proper gift of God."

There are people who are wealthy, there are people who...every kind of circumstance. God can take people in every position in life. I've many times mentioned the Sophie the Washer woman, the poor immigrant woman, ignorant, living in New York City, yet what a name, what an impact she had on the lives. She just did her work and praised God and shared the gospel with people and had a tremendous impact on so many people. She never owned a lot. She just got through from one day to the next, but she had a joy and a peace. And yet there are other people that God does allow to live with great earthly possessions. It's not about any of that, it's about God's plan and purpose for your individual life. Do you believe He has one for you? Are you willing to commit everything to walk in that plan, to seek Him? His plan, His purpose and His promise is then you will call on me and come and pray to me. I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. What an awesome God we have. What a life of peace if we will embrace it that He has for every single one of us. What a life of hope that looks beyond everything this world seeks and lives for. I don't want my plans. My plans will be all the way out in left field if I follow them. I just follow my natural desires, going to lead to a lot of trouble. I'm glad God can redeem even when that happens, don't you? That doesn't mean it's the end. We just mean get up and go forward and say, "God, my life is in your hands. Take me forward and I want your plan and not mine." Praise God. Praise the Lord. [BLANK_AUDIO]