Take a look at this image… Often-times I have wrestled with the mental puzzle of why certain doors have not opened for me yet. Why some business ideas fail, or why this or that thing seems to be holding me back. If I am to be brutally honest with myself and with you, I must admit that there have been times when I have complained to God on why certain things have not worked out and one time in a moment of extreme doubt, I have in times past questioned whether God still cared for my well-being (I have since repented from that).

I think we have all felt that way at some time or another… there may even be some feeling that way at this very moment. With that in mind I would like to share with you some Biblical truths which the Lord has shown me.

The first and most obvious thing is that God does love us!
The most famous of all the scriptures John 3:16 states:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

And also John 15:12-13:

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” 

God loves us… enough to die the most horrible death
imaginable in our place.

The next truth is that God has a plan and purpose for each of us; we may not be able to always immediately see for ourselves what that plan is, but we can be assured beyond all doubt that His plan is the best for us. In Jeremiah 29:11 it is stated:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” 

Also in Isaiah 55:8 it is written:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”

So we see here that God does indeed have a plan for each of us, and often we are not able to (at least at first) see the plan which He has, because we do not think like He does, at the level of thinking that He is at.

Now please allow me to take your attention back to the picture which I asked you to view at the start of this teaching.

Often times I find myself exactly the same as that caterpillar; trying to jump to the end before I am ready, yet the Lord all the while has a perfect plan for preparing me for the day. We know that the winged-contraption that the caterpillar is attempting to use in the picture is not the best for his life, but one day he will become a beautiful butterfly.

Likewise we often try to push with our own efforts and try to make our lives progress faster than God’s perfect plan for us. God will one day make us each a beautiful butterfly, if we will submit to His perfect plan for us.