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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks on Personal Problems (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 51. Accepting God's Plan.
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Accepting God's Plan.
How may we know God's plan for us? No question has been asked more often, nor more earnestly than just this—"May I know certainly what God's plan for me is?" And the deep glow of fire in the eye tells eloquently of the eager desire of the heart. Yes, surely we may know, and may know surely. He that is willing to do may know, and will know. The life-plan that has been thought out may be known, and there may be, too, the steady going along in the plan step by step without breaks. A man needn't even stub his toe, much less fall down.
The first essential to knowing God's plan is meekness. That simply means accepting Somebody's else plan for the life. Meekness is not weakness; it is strength using its strength in deliberately yielding to a higher will. Moses is called the meekest man because he yielded so fully and constantly to Somebody's else plan. He might have been the Pharaoh of the world's leading nation, but he chose to ally himself with a race of ex-slaves because that was Somebody's else plan for him. And the spirit of that choice pervaded his whole life.
Jesus was not the meekest man. He was meekness personified. The word gets a new fineness of meaning from His life. He might have swayed Athens and Corinth, the centres of the world's philosophies, with His philosophy of life, but He chose rather to teach the poor, for that was Another's plan for Him. He might have held in His steady grasp the reins of a new earthly government stronger than that of Rome, but He chose rather to win the government of men's hearts, for that was Another's plan for those human years.
He might have been the centre of the highest social circles of beautiful, cultured Antioch-on-the-Orontes, but He chose to grace and sweeten with His presence the homes of the lowly, for so His Father wished. His voice could have been used to give out music that would have classed Him as the world's greatest musician, but he chose to sing to babes, and to women and men tired out under heavy loads, for that was Another's plan.
Those fingers of His could have chiseled marble and touched canvas into a life far beyond what marble and canvas have ever known, but He used them in ministering to sick and needy and tired-out folks, for so it had been planned for Him. He came to carry out the plan of Another. That was the great meekness of His great strength.
This quality of meekness lies at the very root of guidance. It makes the road simple and straight. The man eager to do what God wants done will know certainly what to do (Psa_25:9). This is a family trait, by which the sons of the King may be recognized (Rom_8:14). Those in the inner family circle of God have a fine passion for doing what He wants done.
The second great essential in knowing God's plan is obedience. This is really saying the first thing over again. Obedience is meekness; it is meekness in action, in daily use. Obedience is practicing meekness. It makes meekness effective. Meekness is accepting the plan; obedience is working it out bit by bit. Meekness is the attitude of one's spirit towards God; obedience is the doing of the things He wants done.