Rev. Joyce Kramer
Transcript of a radio broadcast by Rev. Joyce Kramer, January 21, 2014.
What do you want out of life? Do you know? Few people have any real concrete picture of just what they want out of life. Consequently it seems that they live at the mercy of someone or something other than themselves. Thus we have the belief that we are the victim of things over which we have little or no control.
Each and every person is created with the ability and the power to determine his own future. Man is not at the whim of fate, luck, or chance. Neither is he created to be at the mercy of another person, or even conditions and circumstances. It is true that we may allow others to have control over us or at least to influence us more than is wise. This is often because we do not know what we want out of life and therefore have no sense of direction or purpose.
Thousands of people have unhappy work experiences. In a high percentage of the cases this is due to attitudes and actions of others. This leads to bitterness, resentment, and often self-pity. Why should you allow someone else, or even a number of people determine whether or not you will have a good day? Why should you allow someone to decide when you will be happy or unhappy?
You can determine the type of day you will have. You alone can learn to control your moods. You alone can decide that you will have a good day regardless of what happens around you. It is unnecessary to fall into the habit of allowing those around you to influence you or ruin—or even make your day.
The greater our feeling and awareness of what it is that we are to do in life, the less we are bothered by the insignificant. We are so busy directing our life toward what we want that the problems of others do not become our own. Their disagreeableness remains theirs. Unless you learn now to control your life in little ways, you will have difficulty directing it in the greater issues of life. You can handle anything, if you realize that God is with you, and you will let God help you.
The truth is, there is a divine plan for your life. You can call that divine plan into expression. The divine plan for your life includes health, happiness, wealth, and self-expression. Do you really know that these things are your heritage? You have a heritage of unlimited good.
Would you like to have God’s divine plan of good unfold in our world? If so, then first you need to affirm that the divine plan for your life is unfolding in an orderly, harmonious way. God will provide you with the ideas, the opportunities, the conditions and even the people who are to be a part of this plan. As you pray in this way, you will find that many things in your life will be ready to be resolved.
Are you willing to accept God’s help? Without being aware of it, we often reject God’s help. A certain man discovered one day that a promotion was possible in the firm where he was employed. He began daily prayer, asking God to help him get the position. He worried a lot. He began to fret because he feared that he might not get promoted.
Sure enough, a week later a new employee was being groomed for this particular opening. This man’s worry and fretting over what seemed to be an unjust situation led him to resign from his job. A week later, he learned that had he remained with the firm, he would have been promoted to assistant to the president. God’s plan for this man was even greater than that for which he had prayed. That position was much more important and carried with it a much greater salary. Unknowingly, however, he had said “no” to God’s plan for him.
If we ask for God’s help, we must trust that the help will come and not slam the doors on our good by fretting, fussing, and worrying because something a little different from what we have expected is going on. God doesn’t do things halfway, but always fully, beautifully and wisely.
The story is told of the contractor who discovered that he had not figured in his cost some work that he had agreed to do on a project. This would result in a serious financial loss to him. He began to pray about it, but he couldn’t seem to keep from worrying about the possibility of loss. Things began to go from bad to worse.
One day, in what seemed to be a moment of despair, he prayed for faith. He prayed that God fulfill His divine plan and purpose through him. He let go of his worry thoughts, and trusted God completely. He seemed to feel right about the matter, even though nothing had changed outwardly. When time came to do the work, he instructed his workers to spare neither time nor materials in doing the best job possible on the extra work.
When the job was finished and the owner inspected it, he gave the contractor a substantial bonus, which more than made up for his added expense. As a result of his good reputation, many good new jobs came his way. God worked for him when he proceeded with faith in God, he asked that God fulfill His divine plan and purpose through him. Doesn’t this seem somewhat like the statement of Jesus, “It is the Father abiding in me that doeth the work”?
The next time you have something come along that could easily be a source of anxiety and worry, decide to call upon God. Put your faith in God and He will always come through. Your life is important—important to you, important to God, and important to others. Of course, God will help you. You must let Him.
When you let God help you, you should work to maintain a positive, cheerful attitude. God helps you not only in your actions, but in your thoughts and words as well. Should fear thoughts manage to creep in, you can handle them. If you find yourself fretting and anxious over something, stop for a moment and just affirm, “God’s peace is now established in me.” Then think on the word “peace” and let peace fill your being. By growing peaceful you draw closer to God, and once again gain your perspective in depending upon Him and letting Him help you.
By working with God, you will put yourself in tune with His divine plan for your life. However, there are certain things that you must practice if you want this to happen.
It is helpful to pray that God help you release everything and everybody who is no longer a part of the divine plan of your life. Pray also that these people release you. Bondage to the past can prevent progress today.
Never is it necessary to force some good to come to pass. When you have to force your way through, you will find this will continue to be necessary. It is said that what you have to force to get, you will have to use force to keep.
Whether it is in cleansing whatever is no longer needful from your life, or in attracting to you what you need in order to fulfill the divine plan, God is with you. God never fails to work through you to do whatever you are willing that He do.
Although most of us wanted away from the divine plan of our lives at times, if we continue to call upon God, we will return to His good for us. In the changes that come, it may at first seem that your old world is falling apart. Should that happen to you, just hang on knowing that the old is being cleansed out and good will come forth.
Remember the phrase “divine timing.” Nature operates on the principle of divine timing. Things come forth in an orderly way when conditions are right. The plant in the desert often waits for years, only to blossom overnight after the torrents of rain fall upon the surface of the earth. When you provide the right conditions, God will answer your prayers by helping you. In the book of Ecclesiastes we read, “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven … He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
When you are in doubt about the way that your life seems headed, pray that God’s divine plan for you now becomes active. You can trust God, as God told Joshua, “I will neither leave thee nor forsake thee.”
Accept God’s help. Accept your freedom to experience His perfect plan for your life right now. He will help to bring the fulfillment of your every need and desire. He will guide you into that divine plan and pattern that is uniquely yours. Trust Him: trust God and move forward to fulfill the divine plan for your life.