WHEN GOD CHANGES OUR PLANS

By Prince Wilson..
When God Changes Your
Plans.
Saul was angry. He was driven by an
insane rage to kill those who followed and
preached Christ. He went to the high priest
and asked for letters of authorization so
that he could arrest any Christian he found
in Damascus and bring them chained to
Jerusalem. In Acts 9, he journeyed towards
Damascus, with the letters in his hands
and murder in his heart. He had a very
specific plan in mind and that was to jail
and kill as many Christians as he could.
When the Martyr Steven was stoned to death, Saul was consenting to his death. The witnesses laid down their clothes at his feet to prove that they were a part of his acts of terror against Christians. His

plan clearly defined in his wicked heart, Saul journeyed towards Damascus to carry
out his purpose. But things were about to change. Suddenly, a bright light from heaven
knocked him off his horse and he fell to the ground in shock. Out of that light he
heard the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ speak very clearly to him: ‘Saul, Saul, why
are you persecuting me?’ Saul asked, ‘who are you Lord?’ The Lord Jesus answered
him, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Then Saul trembling in great fear asked, ‘Lord, what do you want
me to do?’
Read the story in Acts Chapter 9.
In that afternoon encounter, the Lord
Jesus Christ redirected the course of
Saul’s life forever. He completely changed
his plans, his purpose and his destiny, all
in one afternoon. Like Paul, many of us are
running after our own plans. We have our
plans written in stone and cast in iron;
nothing can change them. We are obstinat
in our devotion to achieve all those things
we have written out as our goals for the
year. Sadly, many of those plans are OUR
plans. They originate from a place of pride,
competition and carnal desires. Many of
those plans have their origin and root in
the flesh. They were not birthed in the
place of prayer, neither were they birthed
by revelation as we studied and meditated
on the Word of God. Some of these desires
are a product of secret sins and evil
desires lurking in the untouched,
unreached, un-renewed regions of our
soul, hidden from human eyes but very
naked to the Lord. These regions of our
soul is where the Lord seeks to perform a
surgical work if only we would let Him.
To the human mind, many of our plans
and desires are very legitimate, but the
Lord sees quite differently. You want to
expand your company; get promoted to a
higher position at your office; relocate to a
different country; start a new business; start a new ministry or church; make more money; get married to your dream spouse; have children; travel around the world; preach on some famous pulpits; build, buy, own bigger lands and houses; buy better and bigger cars, etc. The list is endless. The carnal mind is ‘trained’ to
deceive and lead us in the wrong direction. It is only God’s Word that can deliver us
from its deception. There are so many things to achieve in a
twelve month period, but so little time to get them done. To the human mind, they
all seem legitimate, however we fail to ask ourselves one little question. Like Paul on
the road to Damascus, we must ask ourselves, ‘Lord, what will you have me
do?’ This question asked from a pure heart
is all that is important. All the plans you
have are your plans. They are not the
Lord’s. The Lord wants to take His place in your heart and in your life. The Lord is
about to change your plans and set you or a completely different course than you
intended. Like Paul, we must be willing to
yield our hearts and will to His own will. We must pray and ask that the Lord purge
our hearts of every hidden, secret sin and
perfect Christ in us. We must set aside ourbrilliant plans and listen for the voice of
the Master to tell us exactly what to do
with the months ahead of us. The days
ahead are very dark. Anybody who
prophesies peace and prosperity to you is
a deceiver from hell and there are many deceivers masquerading as ministers of the gospel. We cannot afford to live like the heathen who have no hope of eternity.
We must constantly live with eternity on our minds.
Beloved, in the Kingdom, our life is not
about achievement but about obedience. It
is not about how much we accomplish but
about how well we obey the Master. We are not commended for achieving many things but for doing the right things in obedience Unlike the world which assess itself by
financial and material accumulation, our
walk with the Lord is not judged by money or material things but by the level of our obedience. When we obey the Lord,
allowing Him to guide our hearts in the direction of His purpose and plans, every financial and material need will be taken care of. That long list of carnal desires becomes unnecessary because the Lord
knows what things we have need of and is eternally committed to fulfill His Word in our lives.
Blessings.