The longer I’m enrolled in God School the more I am amazed at Him. One of His amazing ways is how He orchestrates people, situations, and His Word to accomplish His Plan. Most of the time it is late in the game when I recognize His fingerprints that reveal He’s already been here.

It was just a regular October morning and for some reason I was reading Jeremiah. When I read Jeremiah 29:11-14 I paused and reread it. I remember highlighting and dating the scripture. Then it was off to work in a job I had chosen to find fame & fortune. I recognize now why I felt like I was paddling my canoe upstream and getting nowhere. Like Joshua, and many other people in the Bible, I had not consulted God first for what He wanted.

God called an audible, like God does so many times. It was a month later having lunch with my new Regional Manager, when she said, “Robert, I think you would be happier going back to something like you did before.” BAM! At age 52 I am about to become unemployed. That dream of retiring at the lake in 10 years is now gone. Then He whispered to my heart, “For I know the plans I have for you…”

This was a God School Lab Session where He gave me a scripture from His textbook to prove how His Word works in real life. Over the next 4 months there were dead ends, no job prospects and I was running out of money, but I kept reading & praying Jeremiah 29:11. Then out of the blue, a man I had worked with 25 years before, called to meet with me. I had no idea what he wanted until he said, “Robert I’m going to retire in a year, and I thought you might like my job.” BAM! BAM! God whispered again, “For I know the plans I have for you…” That became a dream job. And yes, I retired 10 years later, and Mary & I have a place on the lake. Only God.

It’s one thing to know & believe God has a plan for our lives but how do we activate our heart to recognize what He wants on a daily basis? Several years later I found the missing piece in Psalms. Ponder His words from Psalm 25:4-5, “Show me YOUR ways, Lord, teach me YOUR paths. 5 Guide me in YOUR truth and teach me, for YOU are God my Savior, and my hope is in YOU all day long.” Notice it moves the focus from me to Him. It is about Him teaching me His Way, Paths, and Truths for His Glory, not mine or what I want.

Every day presents new uncertainties & unknowns. When I look at my messed-up history of doing life my way compared to doing life His Way there is no doubt His Way works all the time. Plus, He provides everything I need and gives me Peace.

It begins with, “Be still and know that I Am God (PS 46:10). Then praying “Show me YOUR ways….” And trusting, “God will bring about in his own time” (1 Timothy 6:15) His wonderful plan for your life.

Ponder His Promise, “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.” Only God!