A Perfect Plan for Imperfect People (Week 4)

​Do you want to know what my plan was in my early twenties? I planned to have a good time.

My plans revolved around one person: me. I moved in with my boyfriend at the time. I was drinking, having sex, and hanging out with the wrong people. My life was filthy with sin, and everything was going according to plan until I took a pregnancy test.

​Let me tell you, becoming a single mom was not on the itinerary. It is one of the hardest things I have ever done. My partying got replaced with extra time at work to make money, sleepless nights in my mom's basement, and a lot of tears.

The life I had been living did not reflect God. I made lots of mistakes, and there were many consequences. Don't get it twisted though, Kori (my daughter), was neither of those things. God made Kori. God does not make mistakes.
 
One of my waitressing friends invited me to a Bible study. The people who were in my Bible study came from all different backgrounds. One, in particular, was a former alcoholic. He was the one who led me to Jesus. I was baptized in the river behind his house. He lived just five minutes down the street from my mom's house.
 
God used my sin and blessed me with Kori. He moved me right where he wanted me. He used this man, despite his former sin, to be a messenger. All because God wanted a relationship with me. I can't type that sentence without being in a state of awe.
 
God's will is perfect, even when He uses imperfect people. Isaac's family, just like me, was full of sin, but do you remember God changed Jacob’s name to Israel? His family would be God’s children: The Israelites.
 
God already knew the drama that was going to unfold in Isaac's family before Jacob and Esau were even born: "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23).
 
Rebekah and Jacob still went to great lengths to make sure Jacob received Isaac's blessing over Esau. Why? God had already promised this! Why did they come up with their own plan when God already had one? They lacked faith.
 
Then we have Isaac, who also tried to make his own plan, but when it failed, why couldn't he just give Esau a blessing too? I think Isaac may have realized at this point that when God has a will, it will be done. Isaac could have blessed Esau repeatedly, but if something isn't blessed by God, it's not going to happen.
 
Every family member in this story had their own agenda, and none of it was focused on God's kingdom. Each of them, fearful things would not turn out the way they had planned, sinned against God.
 
Have you, like me, made this same mistake of ignoring God's guidance to follow the desires of your flesh?
 
When you are scared, stressed, angry, depressed, anxious, grieving, whatever it may be, do not make plans based on selfish worldly desires. God may not give everything your fleshly heart desires and He did not come to fix everything in your life. He came to fix your heart, so you would live life with and for Him. That is His plan. Seek and ask Him to reveal His plan for you and trust that it is better than your own.

Memory verse: "’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.’” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

About the Author

My name is Taylor Watkins. I am 28. My husband Ethan and I have two beautiful girls, Kori (5) and Nora (1). We live in the North Georgia Mountains. I am a Pre-k teacher at our church. I love a cup of coffee, reading and having a good laugh. I also am a crazy cat lady. I find beauty in the fact that we get to worship and praise an all powerful, all knowing God who desires a relationship with us regardless of our flaws. I’m am so ready to dive deeper into God’s word with you. I know as he pours into us we will also pour into each other.

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