Before the Apostle Paul had his Road to Damascus experience, his thoughts and attitudes were completely opposite of God’s Will and agenda. The odd thing about this is that Paul, although devoutly religious, had no clue. He thought he was doing God’s bidding by persecuting believers of Jesus Christ. This shows us that when it comes to our thinking and believing, we can be way out in left field somewhere, thinking we’re on the right track when actually we’re far from it. God has a plan for our individual lives, and we must be confident in the truth of this reality. We are not an accident, and nothing about our being was left to chance. God appointed the time and place of our births, and at any given point in time He knows the number of hairs on each of our heads. There is nothing about us He doesn’t know. This is one of the reasons why we must be in constant prayer and communication with Him, because sometimes we take it upon ourselves to make decisions and choices, and they lead us in the opposite direction of where God wants us to go.

There are seasons of pivotal change in every believer’s life. You’ll feel the weight of it on your shoulders, and the unrest of not knowing exactly how to respond can leave us frustrated. When this happens, we must be careful not to take matters into our own hands. We must also remember that we did not choose God first, He chose us first. 2Timothy 1:9(NLT) tells us, “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” We have been called by our Heavenly Father to be separate from the world, to live as the holy people of a holy God. He has marked us out to be His very own.

1Peter 2:9(NLT) says, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”  No longer do we need to go into a building made of wood or stone in order to worship, praise, and honor our Heavenly Father. Our bodies are His temple, and He tells us in 1Thessalonians 5:23 that we are to keep them holy and blameless until our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, returns. To be a child of God and to be called according to His purpose is a privilege and honor too great for words. It is very sad to say, but not all people see it this way. As a matter of fact, many are not interested in fulfilling the very purpose for which they were born at all.

When you consider this, you recognize how dear to His heart that God holds our allegiance and willingness to freely share what has been so freely given to us. He is delighted that some of us feel passionate about moving His Word, sharing it with others, and serving others with caring acts of kindness and compassion. Doing so will cause our lives to blossom in ways we can’t imagine. So, we should never underestimate the importance of what God has called us to do, and how He desires us to carry it out. The failure to grasp the gravity of this has led many people to make very costly mistakes, waste valuable resources, and sometimes even become disillusioned in the faith.

The Apostle Paul’s life is a pivotal lesson in God’s grace. He started out causing much injury to the church because he persecuted followers of Christ, but even before Paul was placed in his mother’s womb, God’s plan and purpose was etched in Paul’s DNA. God said in Acts 9:15 that Paul was His chosen instrument to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. He received God’s marvelous grace and went from persecuting the church to having a deep and abiding devotion to it. Paul’s example also shows us the importance of following the Spirit’s guidance and waiting on Heavenly Father to show us the way.

Heavenly Father is extremely strategic. He plans to perfection. When it comes to when and where we are purposed to move for His plan for us to be fulfilled, He has seen to it that everything is strategically positioned. If we are to relocate in order to carry forth His mission, angels of relocation and change will have been dispatched to prepare the way, and everything we need will have been taken care of. Things will beautifully fall in line if this is God’s Will. There is no confusion or anxiety. Forcing the issue of relocation is another story. If we up and move without having received God’s greenlight, it can potentially be the biggest mistake of our lives.

As we pursue God’s mission, one of the very first treasures that should be in our arsenal is confidence that we can hear His voice. We need spiritual strength and ability to sharpen our spiritual senses, and one of the ways we receive spiritual strength and ability is through speaking in tongues much. Speaking in tongues also helps us to recognize the impetus of the Holy Spirit, so that when God says, “Go left!” we can discern His directive. There are some that teach against the manifestation of speaking in tongues and would have us believe it is not for the administration of grace in which we now live. We would do well to steer clear of the assumptions of others and take this to the Lord in prayer. Speaking in tongues is a powerful tool that Heavenly Father has given us. We desperately need it so that our inner-being is strengthened and we can discern the guidance of God as we pursue the work of Christ. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

“Wait for His Relocation”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.