Plan

Whose plan do you have in mind? God's or yours?

1 Samuel 20:30 Your on of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established.

I am amazed when I read about Jonathan's love for David. Jonathan was the son of the King. The natural order of things in the surrounding kingdoms would have been to pass the kingship from father to son. Jonathan would have expected to become king and would have likely been told for much of his life that he would be the next king. 

Jonathan embraced David as his best friend. Jonathan loved David and their souls were knit together. What a great blessing to have a friend so close and caring, someone who will protect you from all harm. Even when Jonathan's father sought to kill David Jonathan did whatever it took to protect David from him.

Jonathan had God's plan in mind, not his own. You see, David's safety meant David would eventually take Saul's place as King of Israel. Knowing this, it would have been easy for Jonathan to prioritize his own advancement and allow David to be killed. But he didn't. Jonathan trusted the Lord and loved the Lord's man, David.

I gaze the horizon of life and see so many temptations I could fall into. I could idolize parenthood, marriage, wealth, sports, or politics. So many areas of life pull at you to pursue them wholeheartedly. But to what end? I have to constantly ask myself, 'What has my heart? Who has my heart?'

I find the answer in what I most earnestly pursue. Am I passionate about sports? Am I solely focused on family? Am I constantly preoccupied with politics? Am I, moment by moment, focused on the presence of the Lord?

In moments of crisis my heart is tested. When my vision and desires are not aligned with the direction of my life I must watch closely to see if I fall into the trap of pursuing my own vision instead of the Lord's. Discernment is difficult. Pain is a reality.

What about you? Where do you look? Who do you trust? What do you pursue first? My prayer is for you to seek the Lord, to walk in his ways even during times of testing and temptation.

May your heart be passionate and submitted to the Lord.

Taken from reading 1 Samuel 16-20