Me Leadeth Me

One day I was at Burlington getting some journals to use for Learning To Live when I saw something.

It was a pale pink canvas poster sitting on a lonely, metallic store shelf with a bold statement on it:

When I saw that, my mind began to reflect back on the past year since my blogging journey with Jesus.

What would’ve happened if I did what that canvas poster said, and chose to “design” my own future instead of letting God, the Ultimate Designer, design my future for me?

I sure wouldn’t have had feedback from people like Elsha who have been deeply impacted by Learning To Live if I did such a thing!

“I just want to say I love your writing so much and want to keep encouraging you for what you do! Your post about pride was very impactful. And your heart for ministry is an inspiration. Thank you!”

-Elsha

But then again, that’s my experience.

What about all the rest of us Christians in general?

Is it okay for us as Christians to design our own futures? To follow our dreams?

In this blog post, we’re gonna explore what the Bible and various Christian authors have to say about “designing” our own futures!

Let’s dive in!

What The Bible Says

If we just took a bird’s eye view of what the Bible has to say about designing our own futures, it’s not really positive.

In fact, one Bible verse that distinctly comes to mind is one from the book of Proverbs:

There is a way that seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.

(Proverbs 14:12, emphasis added)

Designing our own wants and futures may not be an appealing choice after all!

But what else does the Bible have to say about this?

Isaiah 30:1 is also another Bible verse that shows where God’s Word stands in regards to designing our own futures:

“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,

“Who take counsel, but not of Me,

And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,

That they may add sin to sin;

(Isaiah 30:1, emphasis added)

Wow! Not only does designing our own future plans lead us ultimately to death, but also to SIN!

That reminds me of what Paul wrote in Romans 6:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:23)

What Jesus Says

Let’s now move on to the Gospels.

What does Jesus have to say about designing our own futures?

Matthew 16:24-26 says:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

(Matthew 16:24-26, emphasis added)

The word of “deny” in the above verse is aparneomai (ἀπαρνέομαι) and it means “to forget one’s self, lose sight of one’s self and one’s own interests.”

So, Jesus is saying here that in order to truly follow Him, we must “deny” ourselves–to “forget” and “lose sight” of ourselves and our interests.

And it’s likely that includes denying the futures we’ve designed for ouselves.

If we move a little further on in Matthew, we read another one of Jesus’ words:

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

(Matthew 19:29)

Again, we see that necessity of leaving everything–houses, family, land–in order to follow Jesus.

And I’m sure that also includes our own predesigned plans and dreams for the future.

This also reminds me of another Bible verse in Matthew 19. In this Bible verse, Jesus is speaking to the rich young ruler:

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

(Matthew 19:21)

Here, Jesus is honestly telling the rich young ruler the cost of being His disciple.

The cost of leaving his possessions by selling them all away.

What if Jesus asked us to “sell” away the futures we’ve designed?

Would we say yes?

Or, have the same reaction as the rich young ruler?

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

(Matthew 19:22)

What Christian Authors Say

What do some of the greatest Christian authors have to say about designing our futures?

19th century Christian writer Ellen White wrote this powerfully thought-provoking statement in her devotional book, Our Father Cares:

We may think it pleasant at first to follow pride and worldly ambition, but the end is pain and sorrow. Selfish plans may present flattering promises and hold out the hope of enjoyment, but we shall find that our happiness is poisoned and our life embittered by hopes that center in self. In following Christ we are safe, for He will not suffer the powers of darkness to hurt one hair of our heads. He will keep that which is committed to His trust, and we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

(Our Father Cares pg. 155)

In her well-known and well-loved book, Steps To Christ, Ellen White also wrote:

Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ.

(Steps To Christ pg. 70)

Okay, so that’s a perspective on designing your own future (and the spiritual negativities of it) from a NINETEENTH century Christian author.

But what about a 21st century one?

Modern day Christian author and ministry leader, Leslie Ludy, has this to say:

“The most beautiful [people] I’ve ever observed are those that have exchanged a self-focused life for a Christ-focused one. They are confident, but not in themselves. Instead of self-confidence, they radiate with Christ-confidence.”

— Leslie Ludy

“Whenever you surrender the most precious areas of your life to GOD, it’s like trading in a pile of worthless pebbles for a truckload of priceless jewels.”

— Leslie Ludy

“There is no safer place for your hopes and dreams than in the loving hands of your faithful Father.”

— Leslie Ludy

“God gives His best to those who leave the choice to Him.”

— Leslie Ludy

So, again, we see that designing our own futures not only brings various negative consequences to our souls, but it also ROBS us from experiencing the BEST designs God has lovingly created for our own futures!

Which now leads me to the next section of this blog post.

What I Say

Friends, we have just seen from the Bible and a couple Christian authors how we as Christians should view worldly phrases like the one I saw on that canvas poster at Burlington.

However, I’d like to share a shortened version of my own testimony and experience with the matter of designing our own futures (if you’ d like to read the full version of my testimony, click HERE).

So, anyway, in this section I’d like to quickly share my own testimony concerning this topic.

My Testimony

Like most high school seniors, I had a lot of dreams and plans for the future.

I wanted to go to college, major in English, and then go on to become a Christian novelist.

But then, God stopped me in my tracks by closing various doors for me to get into college.

After praying earnestly to God about my inability to get into college, I sensed the Holy Spirit lead me to Zephaniah 3:8, which says:

“Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord,

“Until the day I rise up for plunder…”

(Zephanaih 3:8)

At that moment after I read over the verse, I was convicted to make a choice.

Will I still choose to continue to design my future?

Or, will I humbly wait for God to design HIS future for me?

I chose the latter, surrendered my predesigned dreams and plans to God, and waited for Him to make His future plans clear to me in His own time and way.

After a 9 month period of waiting, God led me to launch this blog ministry, Learning To Live, in February of 2019.

Fast forward more than one year later, I still marvel at how beautiful God’s plans are.

I can’t describe in words the peaceful satisfaction I have in my heart everyday as I walk through the future GOD has designed for me!

Seriously, I wouldn’t trade this full-time blog ministry for ANYTHING!

An Appeal & A Prayer

Dear reader, I wanna sincerely appeal to you to look at your life.

Have you surrendered your predesigned plans to Jesus? Have you given to Him every part of your future?

Are you honestly struggling to surrender everything to Him?

Dear reader, today I wish to appeal to you to simply pray the following prayer below if you desire to truly give every one of your predesigned plans and dreams to Jesus today:

I’d like to conclude this blog post with one of my favorite hymns.

It’s the hymn “He Leadeth Me,” and I pray that as you listen to this hymn, you’ll be moved to allow your life to reflect the lyrics of that hymn–“He leadeth me,” instead of “me leadeth me.”

Amen! Maranatha!