Romans 2:7 The quest of mankind is to be constant in that which is good, glorious and honorable and of imperishable value. We are eager to pursue the original blueprint-life of the ages. (TMB)

What are you pursuing?

Because you love God, you want to know what His will is for your life. Because you are human, you think being chosen for a great job, having a notable achievement in our life, or enjoying amazing relationships are an indication of His will. Therefore, you run after those things. Though you may not realize it, you may be walking outside of God’s plan. Why? Because you think you are pursuing God as you strive to accomplish those things. However, you may not be. When you believe you are fulfilling God’s purpose for you, you alter your life, your plans, and your goals. You will give up people, places you want to go, and things you want to have. You make different choices. 

Matthew 19:29 For anyone who has left behind their home and property, leaving family—brothers or sisters, mothers or fathers, or children—for my sake, they will be repaid a hundred times over and will inherit eternal life. (TPT)

Here are some things to consider. Is the job still great if you have to compromise the standards God set for your life? Why was the achievement notable? Was God glorified? Are the relationships amazing because of what they bring to your life/status or because of how God shines in them? If what you believe is God’s plan, really is His plan, you will know it. Your spirit will bear witness to it.

Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the Lord—it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it]. (AMPC)

What if you missed God? What if it was not His plan? What is it was a good idea, just not God’s idea? When you’re wrong, every alteration you make will take you on a skewed path where you stumble and bang yourself as you go along, creating scars. When you realize you made a mistake. God will draw you back. You will realize it you have made a mistake. How? Because you will spend so much time in prayer, talking with the Father about what is going on, shedding tears, and asking Him to heal the scars. During one of those prayer sessions, you will get a revelation.

You don’t need to be made over. The first model was perfect. You just need Him to do a couple of things: put you back on the path at the point you shifted, remind you of the way He originally planned for things to be, and help you reap the harvest created by the changes you made when you interfered. You need to be delivered from yourself. Then you will walk out your life waiting for God to fulfill His design. 

1 Peter 5:10 And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up. (TPT)

When God has restored you, you will choose to pursue being transformed into the likeness of Christ above all other pursuits. Just stay in the presence of God, seeking, worshipping, loving, and praying. God will orchestrate your life. What He purposed is already done. 

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (KJV)

You don’t have to figure it out. You don’t have to work it out. All you have to do is walk it out. 

Please agree with me as I pray. Then ask the Lord what your prayer should be and wait for His response:

Father, I have learned so many things about myself in the time I spend in Your presence. One of them was, often my pursuit of You was actually my pursuit of my idea of Your purpose for me. I made countless changes in order to accommodate what I thought was Your will for my life. I got myself into a lot of uncomfortable situations. Not because I was disobeying You, I just missed You. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. I planted seeds during those times and I know I have to reap the harvest, and some of those changes caused very deep scars. I am sorry I missed You. Thank You for bringing me back to You. Now, if there is anything I want to know, I will simply ask You, and wait. As I pray and study, You speak and bring clarity. I thank You because, one by one, You are exposing my errors and the alterations I made. You are helping me learn from the harvest of the seeds I planted. You are showing me I was pulling away from You with every change, as opposed to drawing closer to You. Thank You for continuing to undo the alterations I made, for healing the scars, making harvest time less unpleasant, and most importantly, for bringing me back to Your design. It lifts me to another place in You to know there is nothing I can do to create irreparable damage. Though I over think and jump ahead sometimes, thank You for making me the way I am. You are God, my healer. Because I am me, I’m making fewer and fewer changes pursuing ideas that take me off Your designed path. I’m waiting for You…

Ask the lord what he wants to say to you about today’s devotional and journal it here: