God's Plans for You

Good morning ladies!! I hope everyone had a great day yesterday! :)

           I had a wonderful day, but the devil kept trying to get me to question God and the plans he has for me. He tried to get me stressed and frustrated in regards to my finances and supporting my family. He wanted me to lose faith and worry and stress and cry, but I didn't! For once I saw right through his little plan and I was like YOU CAN'T HAVE MY JOY DEVIL!! My joy belongs to the Lord!!! I seriously kept thinking and saying that in my head over and over again! I told God that I trusted him and nothing was going to take away that trust. It's so crazy because before any of this happened my mom was telling me about a story in the book of Daniel. Daniel had cried out to God and prayed (Daniel 9:19 “Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay, because your city and your people are called by your name.”), and didn't hear anything for quite some time (21 days I believe). One day an Angel appeared before him and told him that his requests were heard by God, but he had been in battle with the devil because the devil didn’t want God’s response to be given to Daniel. The devil didn’t want Daniel to have any hope! He wanted him to question if God was still there. That’s what I kept thinking about all day and meditating on. I kept wondering, how many times has the Lord sent an Angel in battle just for ME!! Just to tell me what he wants me to hear! How many times had his goodness, love and mercy been blocked by the devil and his wickedness! I’ve been wondering, where is my job Lord? Where is my career and a way for me to help support my family? It’s like God wanted me to know that he’s in battle for me by my mom telling me that story. He wanted me to know that he’s heard my request and he’s working on it right now!!

          Last night I posted a post on Facebook just asking for prayer and a couple of the responses that really touched my heart said “The devil is a liar, I heard a song writer saying that satan has peeped into your future and saw what God has in store for your life and he is trying to discourage you. But, we rebuked that liar in Jesus' name. Keep on praying and I will continue in prayer with you.” Another comment said “"Hell fights hardest against those who God will take the farthest. But when Christ is for you, nothing/no one will ever stop you." How true are both of these! Thank you Lord for reminding me of this! I just kept thanking him for everything he is doing and I told God “If you want me to know what your plan for my life is please reveal it to me, but if you don’t I’m okay with that too Lord. Just give me the strength to get through whatever it is you’re doing!” I left at that! I’m not saying that later on today I won’t think about my finances and have a mini panic attack, but that’s okay too! Lol! That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on God or I’ve lost my faith. It just means I’m human!!! That’s why it’s so important to have a relationship with God because if you don’t you’ll lose sight of all these and you’ll be blinded by the devils schemes!

 I kept trying to think of scriptures to encourage myself last night before I went to bed and there is one that my mom ALWAYS says to me and I couldn’t find it in my bible! I found some other great ones while I was trying to look for that one though! Then my mom called and told me what the scripture was. I posted them below so you can use them to help you if you’re struggling with trusting God’s plan for you. Not even struggling with his plan, but struggling with understanding why he is allowing you to go through what you’re going through. Hope these help you as much as they helped me! J

*Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you”--- this is the Lord’s declaration---- “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will LISTEN to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart. I will be found by you.”*

         This is the scripture my mom always reads to me and hearing it last night helped me remember that God’s plans for us are good things. We may have to go through some not so good things/situations to get there, but he isn’t against us! He loves us and he wants us to be happy! J
 
*Proverbs 15:22 “Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”*

When I read this I immediately thought, when YOU have your own plans and don’t consult with God, your plans will always fail. You have to live by GOD’s plan for your life not your own. This also made me think, if we are going through something and we don’t let others know what we are going through how can they help us?! How can they cry out to God on our behalf and ask that his will be done for us if they don’t know what’s going on?! I say that ladies to let you know that you don’t have to fear what others will think or say, it doesn’t matter here. We care and love all of you and honestly want the best for you. I know it’s nice for me to be able to text/call Brandy or my mom and tell them what’s on my heart and ask them to pray with/for me. I think we all need and deserve that. Someone that we can be completely vulnerable with that won’t judge us, that will be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19). If you don’t feel like you have that support from the people you’re surrounded by please feel free to reach out to Brandy, myself or my mom Reda. We are all broken and trying to allow God to pick up our pieces and put us back together! J

*Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.”*
* Proverbs 19: 21 “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.”

Love these! God is basically saying we may have plans for ourselves but his plan is always the one that will prevail. That’s why it’s so important for us to trust God and what he’s doing in our lives. It’s not easy to do this in every situation and believe me I will be the first to admit that, but holding on to that stress, anger or fear only turns your world upside down even more. LET GO AND LET GOD!!! It’s the hardest thing you’ll EVER do, but try it sometime. It’s going to take us all sometime to get there. I’m working on this every day and some days are easier than others, but it’s still hard to do.

          I know I’ve said this a lot but please know you aren’t alone with whatever you’re going through. Utilize this blog to help you! Reach out to the women around you and seek guidance and understanding. Maybe they have gone through what you’re going through and can help you. You never know! J

Prayer

Lord, I pray that you give all of us strength to get through whatever it is we are going through, knowledge and wisdom to understand why we are going through this storm, and faith in you to help us make it through. Please help us to reach out to one another and help each other. Let us not lean on our own understandings Lord, but let us trust in you. Bless us and keep us safe Lord. In Jesus name, Amen! J

**Update**

Great news about the Weekend to Remember! I set up our group and every couple that joins our group will receive 50% off the total amount!!  If you or anyone you know is interested in attending please email me and I will get all the info over to you! J

Please stay encouraged, inspired and motivated today and help someone else do that same! Help someone turn their frown upside down! J

Thanks for the love and support!! Love you ladies!! J

Raynisia Nagel
A Woman After God’s Own Heart