The word of the Lord came to me:
I chose you before I formed you in the womb;
I set you apart before you were born.
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
But I protested, “Oh no, Lord, God! Look, I do not know how to speak since I am only a youth.
Do not say, “I am only a youth,” for you will go to everyone I send you to and speak whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of anyone,  for I will be with you to deliver you. This is the LORD’s declaration.  Jeremiah 1:4-8 HCSB

Before God formed us in the womb, he had an assignment picked out for us.  Now that seems pretty demanding for us when we haven’t even been conceived, but God is the ultimate planner.  Who else could have created this universe and everything in it in 6 days and had the 7th day planned as a day of rest?

Now maybe you are thinking of your life and thinking that you hope that this is not what God had planned for you.  Maybe it’s not going so well.  Maybe it’s been difficult from the start.  Well, God has good plans for us.  He had good plans for your parents and He had good plans for you.  The problem with human beings is that we don’t always conform to God’s will.  God gives us free will which is really kind of a bummer because given the opportunity, humans will usually mess it up somewhere along the way. If your parents didn’t have anything to do with God and didn’t lead you to have anything to do with God then I can see how you would be far from his plans for you.

But here’s the thing, once we accept God’s assignment and draw close to Him things get better.  It’s like stepping from the dark into the light.  Things may still be hard at times, but God is with us and He will rescue us.

Now maybe you grew up in a Christian home and you decided that you would think for yourself when you got older and strayed away from God.  Well, that’s okay.  If you are still breathing, it is not too late to come back to Him.

The thing is before we are formed in our mother’s wombs, God gives us assignments.  He sets us apart. Now I grew up in a Christian home knowing the right way to do things and how to keep a good close relationship with the Lord. But in my mid 20’s I strayed and like the poor Israelites, I wandered round and round the same mountain and it took me a long time to make a short journey.  I would come back to God and get close to Him but I was always busy doing my own assignments in the things that I had set up for my life.  Somehow God managed to work in some of his  assignments as well without me even knowing it.  But eventually I realized just what it was that God wanted me to do and let me tell you what a relief that was.  It was good to be doing what God had set me apart to do. I just had to draw really close to Him to find out what that was.

You see some of you are reading this and you are saying, “well I go to church a couple times a month and  I pray and I have no idea what my assignment is”.  Well then my friend, draw closer.  Read your bible daily, pray continually, don’t just go to church, get involved in church.  Attend Bible study classes or small groups.

Once you start to do these things, God will make your assignment clear to you.  You may have to go through several assignments to prepare for the one that God has ultimately set you aside for.  Stay close to Him and let Him guide you. Tune out the television and the social media and the hustle and bustle of every day.  Give God your full attention so that He can speak to you.

God has good plans for each and everyone of us.  Jeremiah 29:11 says “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 a hope and a future.”  The only thing that can mess up the good plans that God has for us, is us.  Yes, we can reject Him.  We can reject His plans.  We can get wrapped up in the world and all we believe that it has to offer.

So today you must decide, are you going to trust God and trust in His plans for you?  Are you going to accept His assignment and do it to the best of your ability?  God is not going to force his goodness or good things upon you, you will have to accept them.  The choice is yours. Give it some prayerful consideration and choose wisely.  You will be so glad you did.

Have a great day!