We’re all looking for guidance; we’re all looking for God's best!
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada, and welcome to this edition of Joni and Friends. And isn’t it the truth? I mean, don’t you want assurance that you're on track with God's perfect plan for your life? But what if you feel you've missed that perfect plan? You've made some mistake; you've stumbled morally; maybe a rebellious error has gotten you off track, or an accident or injury has derailed you from God’s perfect plan. I mean, that's what happened to me. My good grades in high school opened up the way for an academic recommendation to a top university back east. I was all prayed up and ready to go. I even felt that God had made clear what kind of major I was to declare, the kind of career he wanted me to go into. It felt like God had opened wide the door, paved the way, and was lighting my path.
But then, just a short time before I was ready to head to college, I suffered that diving accident which left me a quadriplegic. Lying in that hospital totally paralyzed, I knew my life had been altered. And watching all my other friends head off to college, I thought I’d missed it; I’d missed the boat. God's perfect plan was beyond reach. And look, you don't have to be a quadriplegic to identify with that; you've probably felt the same at some point in your life. Everything is moving forward, you're praying, you're reading the Word, you're living right, following God – then all of a sudden, you're hit with a divorce, or a pink slip at work, or a bad medical report, or a death in the family, or a life-threatening illness. And you think, if God has a fixed, detailed plan for the life of each believer, and he wants us to follow that plan, then what happens when a monkey wrench throws everything off course? Do we drop down to plan B and have to take it from there?
That's what I thought. I thought while God has a “best” plan for our life, he also has some other “cheaper” plans for people who miss the best – like me. I felt like my diving accident put me on a permanent Plan B regarding God's will for my life. And as a result, I spent all of my days wondering what could have been. Oh, if only I had not gone swimming that day; if only I hadn't dove off that raft. Well, that may have been the way I looked at things in the beginning, but I am here to tell you that irrespective of any diving accident, I did not miss God’s perfect plan for my life. The Bible teaches that, number one, God has only one specific plan for your life; and, number two, the events and choices of your life irresistibly work into that plan in every detail. You cannot “flunk out” of God's plan – it accounts for all your mistakes, your spiritual blindness and unforeseen events in advance. So I want you to take heart today – for those who are in Christ, there is only one plan, and that's Plan A. And this plan holds despite all your silly mistakes and unforeseen accidents. God's Plan A reveals the wonder of God's shepherding care and the detail of his love through his decreed plan for your life.
Oh, the joy and satisfaction in knowing that you are fulfilling God's plan for your life! And I want you to learn more about this in a little booklet I'd like to send you called simply “Guidance.” In it are lots of Scriptures and examples that you can study. And you can get your free copy today by visiting my radio page at joniradio.org. Because remember – Ephesians 1:11 tells us that “in Christ we were chosen according to the plan of him who works out everything [and that means everything] in conformity with the purpose of his will.” That’s your good news today from Joni and Friends.
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