Life can get so complicated.  We often find ourselves wondering about God’s will.  What is it?  Did I miss it?  Did I mess it up? Countless people, including myself at times, feel like the mess ups have derailed God’s plan.  That His plan will no longer get accomplished because of something we have done.

Guilt.  It lingers.  It pops up at bad times.  And it gets us thinking that we have ruined it all.  God is perfect, so the fault must be with us.  We are worthless now.  We have ruined any chance of being a force of change, of being God’s instrument, or being able to take part in God’s plan.

This kind of thinking is no good.  And here is why:

How true that statement is!  Do we not understand that God is all powerful?  Is He not the Creator that knows us before we are born?  He knows our every move before we even exist!  So let’s be clear,  YOU ARE NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO THWART GOD’S PLAN.

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
and before you were born, I consecrated you.
Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV) 
 
Before you were even formed in the womb!  Do you get that?  That means that even if you were “unplanned” by your parents, you were not unplanned to God.  If you were an “accident” to the world, you were no accident to God.  No matter what your parents did (and what their parents did, and so on til Adam and Eve), God had already planned on you.  And if He could plan that, making sure you were born despite all the decisions that your ancestors could’ve made (drugs, abortions, abstinence, etc), He surely could make sure that nothing you did would thwart His other plans.

Now, it may be that God grants someone else the responsibility to finish what you started.  It may be that the original plan is tossed and a new one is used.  But none of this is outside of God’s power and ability and none of it is something He didn’t already know was going to happen.

Jesus looked at them and said, “with man it is impossible,
but not with God.  For all things are possible with God.”
 
Mark 10:27 (ESV)
 
So rest assured that His will will get done.  When you make a mistake, own it and ask forgiveness.  Then take victory in that forgiveness, pick yourself up out of self-condemnation, and get going in the right direction again.  This will take discipline and self-control.  You will need to change the way your brain thinks, from self-condemnation to Christ’s victory.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant,
but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it. 
Hebrews 12:11 (ESV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own
understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will 
make straight your path.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)
 
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives
generously to all without reproach,
and it will be given to him.
 James 1:5 (ESV)
 

Acknowledge your faults, ask forgiveness, seek His wisdom, and move forward.  Sometimes, your forward momentum may be small but small is better than none.  And as you step forward in small ways, God will empower you to step out even more, until one day, your forward momentum is big again.

And that guilt that keeps coming back?  Push that aside.  Once forgiven, always forgiven.  Even if the world says otherwise.  What did it say in James? Without reproach.  God will give you wisdom without reproach. That means without any disappointment or expression of disapproval.  That’s right. So if God doesn’t look upon you that way, why should you?  Don’t give Satan that control.  Push that guilt aside and keep making those small steps forward!

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1) What have you done that makes you feel like you are unable to follow God’s plan? Or what has happened that makes you feel as if God’s plan has been ruined?

2) How much of that is guilt brought on by Satan?  How much of that is guilt over un-repented sin?

Pray over your answers.  Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any sin that needs to be forgiven.  Ask Him to show you where Satan is trying to bury you in negativity and guilt.  Spend time asking for forgiveness.  Rebuke Satan and ask the Holy Spirit to restore you.

3) How can you be proactive in keeping the guilt away?

4) Find a verse that helps you remember God’s power.  Write it on a card and keep it with you.  Pull it out whenever you feel guilt creeping back in.

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