Given our personality, our physical ability, our current location, our financial resources, and a long list of other factors, there is a job that we could do, that would be most suited for us, and bring us the most fulfillment. Unfortunately the odds of finding it is slimmer than a needle in a hay stack. Believe it or not God actually promised to bring us to that needle, if we follow his conditions.

          Before I describe the conditions, I want to describe the promise that God has a plan for our lives;  the best possible plan available for us.

          The bible tells us that God knows everything about our past present and future, and that he has good plans for us.

God said, “I knew you before I formed you in the womb”, and “I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future”.¹ He promised he can work all our current circumstances together for our good.² He said, his thoughts about us are uncountable and he knows things like the current number of hairs on our heads.³ God said he prepared things for us to do, before we were born, and he promised to reward us when we do them.⁴

          The Scripture says, He wills and works within us.⁵ To will, is to be motivated or to have a desire. The scripture further says, that if we delight ourselves in him he will give us the desires of our heart.⁶ I feel I should note, that our current desires may or may not be the ones he will fulfill, but as we die to our-self and try to please him, he will either fulfill desires we’ve had all along, or create new desires. I have personally found that, the desires that dwarfed all my other desires, can change. And when God fulfilled my new desires, all I wanted was what he was fulfilling. When I thought about the things I used to want so badly, I honestly didn’t have a craving for them. I know firsthand how he can make the barren woman rejoice more than her who is with child.⁷

          The key to believing that God’s plans are actually the best thing for us (and not just the best thing for God), is to understand the nature of his love for us. Not only did he die on a cross to redeem us from God’s wrath, but he reasons that if he did not withhold his only son, then why would he withhold any good thing from us?⁸ God describes a list of what his love for us looks like. His love is patient with us. His love is kind to us (giving us thoughtful things). His love is not arrogant, irritable or rude, he doesn’t demand to get his own way. His love bears with all our shortcomings, His love hopes for our success, and is willing to persevere until it happens. His love cares more about what’s best for us, than what’s convenient and easiest for him.⁹ The more I learn about his love, the more I trust and want what he wants for my life. I used to think his plan for me was only what made him happy, and that this life is mainly pain, with comparably small gain. But I found out that his love for me can’t help but make plans that will be for my good, because his love is not selfish, but selfless.¹⁰ As we learn about the unchangeable nature of God’s love, we will gain a confidence, that his plan is the best possible thing for us.¹¹

          I should mention God’s plan is always up to date. Even if we sinned in a major way, which can have lasting effects on our lives.¹² God can redeem our current circumstances, and is able to give back what we’ve lost (or give us something to replace it).¹³ But often harsh circumstances are not from sinfulness. God told us not to be surprised when heallows strangehardships, like Mephibosheth’s handicapping accident, Job’s diseases and lost family members, and many other examples.¹⁴ A fewverses later he tells usthat after we have suffered a little while, God will restore, comfort, strengthen and establish us.¹⁵He wounds, buthe heals.¹⁶ He disciplines, but only out of love.¹⁷ So whatever he let happen to us, whether from our own sin or something else, we can know that he willnot let us get to a point of no hope, because he is “the God of hope.”¹⁸ He willnot let us get to a point of pain and misery, with no redemption orpleasure, because God is our redeemer and “in hispresence there is fullness of joy; at hisright hand are pleasures forevermore”.¹⁹

Godredeemed theloss of Mephibosheth, Job and many others.²⁰ God is in charge of everything that happens to us, and because Jesus paid for our sins, we can know that he still has good things for us.²¹

          So what are the conditions to God’s goodplan for our lives? He said that we will reap what we sow, and again the one who sows in tears will reap with a shout of joy.²² He didn’t promise his redemption or his plan would be easy, but he did promise it would be worth any painful effort required.²⁴ God said, he gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud.²³ Meaning if we do things in our own strength and seek our own glory, then God will not do gracious things in our life, but will make our circumstances painful. God said we need to delight in him in order for him to give us the desires of our heart.²⁵ Delight can be translated take pleasure in. If we delight or take pleasure in something, it means we care about it. God want’s us to care about him, hate what he hates and love what he loves, to try and please him, and he tells us how to do this in the bible. God also said, “whoever finds his life, will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it.”²⁶ I don’t know if your seeing the theme here, but to obey everything God says will result in good things for us. King David wrote:"The law of the Lordis perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lordis sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lordare right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lordis pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lordis clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lordare true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward."²⁷ When we do what God shows us in the bible, God will guide us into his good plans.

          It’s no surprise that God’s plans for us require hard and selfless things, because he wants us to imitate him. Jesus loved us in a selfless way, and now Jesus is reaping the rewards.²⁸ In the same way he wants us to love him in a selfless way, and he will reward us too.²⁹ I can hear my conservative Christian friends saying, well there you have it, Jesus was rewarded in heaven and that’s what we should expect too.³⁰ Yes, heaven is the greatest reward God has for us, but he goes out of his way to show that he rewards on earth too.³¹

          Consider Enoch, the man who walked with God.³² We know God won’t draw near to us unless we draw near to him.³³ If sin separates us from God, then living in obedience, and trying to please him is the way to draw near.³⁴ This means Enoch selflessly lived to please God, and God walked with him. God became part of his reward, God interacted so much with Enoch that people said, Enoch walks with God.³⁵ Hebrews explains that for a person to walk with God it takes faith, and part of that faith is to believe that God rewards us.³⁶ I know that Enoch’s painful obedience was worth it to him, because Jesus explained what this selfless obedient love for God can result in. He said whoever gives up mother or brother or lands etc, will receive one hundred fold back, in this life, and in the age to come, eternal life.³⁷ Again he says, "give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.”³⁸

          When we begin to see that God’s plan is the best possible thing for us, we will want to stay in the middle of that plan. We will want to find out what the bible says, so we know how to obey God and receive his rewards. God didn’t just create people to be missionaries, pastors and evangelists. He made businessmen, professional athletes, janitors, etc. If we are striving to obey God with all our heart soul mind and strength, then we are right in the middle of God’s plan.³⁹ We may be reaping with a shout of Joy, or sowing a new harvest of tears, but we can know that as long as we are striving to obey God, we are in his plan, and we will see that it was the best possible plan for us.

① Psalm 139:13–16 /Jeremiah 1:5 / Galatians 1:15 / Jeremiah 29:11 ② Romans 8:28 ③ Psalm 139:17–18 / Luke 12:7 ④ Ephesians 2:10 / Hebrews 11:6 / Proverbs 11:31 ⑤ Philippians 2:13 ⑥ Psalm 37:4 ⑦ Isaiah 54:1, 4–5 / Psalm 113:9 ⑧ Romans 8:32 / Psalm 84:11 ⑨ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ⑩ 1 Corinthians 13:5 ⑪ Malachi 3:6 ⑫ 2 Samuel 12:14 ⑬ 2 Samuel 12:14 / 2 Samuel 12:24 / Joel 2:25 ⑭ 1 Peter 4:12 ⑮ 1 Peter 5:10 ⑯ Job 5:18 ⑰ Hebrews 12:6 ⑱ Romans 15:13 ⑲ Isaiah 49:26 / Psalm 16:11 ⑳ 2 Samuel 9:11 / Job 42:10 ㉑ Ephesians 1:11 / 1 Peter 3:18 / Jeremiah 29:11 ㉒ Galatians 6:7-9 / Psalms 126:5-6 ㉓ James 4:6 ㉔ 2 Corinthians 9:6 ㉕ Psalm 37:4 ㉖ Matthew 10:39 ㉗ Psalm 19:7–11 ㉘ Hebrews 12:2 / Matthew 26:64 ㉙ Matthew 22:37 / Hebrews 11:6 ㉚ God promised to reward our hardships here on earth ㉛ 1 Peter 1:13 / Proverbs 11:31 ㉜ Genesis 5:24 ㉝ James 4:8 ㉞ Isaiah 59:2 / 1 John 5:3 ㉟ Genesis 15:1 ㊱ Hebrews 11:6 ㊲ Mark 10:29–30 ㊳ Luke 6:38 ㊴ Matthew 22:37 / John 14:21