Thursday, October 19, 2006

when did we stop telling people that God has big plans for them?

when did we stop believing it for ourselves?

why do we think that God's plans are always future oriented and not now-oriented?

i want to be the type of person who realizes God's goodness now and encourages others to live in God's plan now.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Josh,

I think a lot of people are questioning at least what it means to say “God has big plans” for them. I think to often we have preached and believed this in our country like God was the God of the American dream. We thought that God had the perfect plan for us, that he laid out the perfect spouse for us, the perfect career path and the perfect house. All we had to do was follow him and not screw it up.

We too often think of God’s will in terms of what God makes happen to us or what God wants us to do, instead of who God wants us to be. I think this goes along with walking in God’s plan in the here and now. How can we reflect God in our lives in every moment and be like Him?

That is the kind of person I want to be too.

James

Josh Kleinfeld said...

james, great to "see" you! do you include yourself in the group who asks the "big plans" question?

I think I do. I was just talking with a group of seniors and was thinking through how much pressure they are under to make the right decision for the next 3/4 of their lives right now.

I am thinking of God's will as it happened in the life of Moses. The dude was all alone in the desert when God revealed himself to him. And God then shaped his life to be one who was constantly asking the question, "What now God?"

I think many times we get caught up in the idea of the perfect job and the perfect house and the perfect spouse that we miss that God's plans are about every single moment. Even when we're in a job that we hate. Even when we live in a dumpy house.

so i wonder what kind of language we might use instead...

Isabell said...

Josh,
you can use some of my "close friends" like Psalm 73:24, and Isaiah 58:11 (which he led me to just before opening a door I was not sure I wanted to go through)Of course there are more, but these to mean a lot to me, they came when I needed them.
Oh, and check out my blog on MySpace. I am going to try to keep up with this one too!
IZ