Is God Frustrating Your Plans

Question: Will God ever frustrate a believer’s plans? The answer is yes!

Question: Can a Christian become an enemy of God? The answer is yes!

When you become a believer and are born–again, your focus and attention is more than likely on the Savior Jesus Christ. You have become a new creation in Christ. You have been covered by the blood of Jesus, washed and cleansed of your sins and forgiven, you became an heir to the Kingdom. You have been given the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and your body became a temple for the Holy Spirit. God’s peace and joy has filled your heart and soul and you were very excited about what had happened to you, at least this was the experience I had, praise the Lord.

You probably started attending church regularly and reading your Bible and spending time with the Lord. You had a striving prayer life and enjoyed the Lord’s company. You probably couldn’t wait to share your experience with other people and you may have seen people give there hearts to Jesus because God used you in the ministry of soul winning. I can’t be sure of others so I am writing from some of my own experiences. My conversion you might say was a radical one, I was so excited that I experienced all of these things in great measure, praise God! And I am still excited and praising and thanking the Lord quite often, even writing praise songs, at times, that I sing in the morning to praise and thank the Lord among other things.

This is the problem many times, it seems as time goes on our fervor can begin to wan and our excitement and joy can start fading and we start becoming interested in worldly things. Materialism isn’t anything new in the world or the church. It isn’t that God is against us having things, but when the things we have own us then we have a problem. Not only that but when the places we go and the things we spend our time with become more important than the Lord and His kingdom then we start to become an enemy of God.

Let me share what James wrote about this subject. In James 4:4 he said, "You adulterous people don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." We live in the world but we are not to love the things of this world. We are sojourners just passing through. We need jobs and a place to stay and essentials to live. And God knows that, the Bible says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) God is more than willing to provide the things we need to live on.

Like I said God isn’t against us having things, no, it is the things we have that we fall in love with that are the problem. Think of this, money isn’t the source of all evil but the love of money is. You have to be real careful not to fall in love with the things you own. There is no way you can love God and also the things of this world. Sometimes as Christians we want to see, feel, touch and become friends of this world. When we become so engrossed in worldly things and start neglecting God and His Kingdom, that’s when we get in trouble and become God’s enemies.

In James 4:5 it says, "Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to live in us tends towards envy." When we get in this position we engage in another battle, but this battle is not with the enemy of our souls, this battle is with the Lord. The Lord loves us and He will do whatever it takes to get us to repent and put Him where He belongs in our lives. He may cause our plans to fail and frustrate our every move. He can make us very miserable people. He can keep us from getting the rest we need, causing sleepless nights. When we start putting things before God and depending on them it shows that we have pride in our lives and God knows how to humble us.

This reminds me of the story about King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel chapter 4, after he had a vision that Daniel interpreted for him. Daniel told the King what would happen to him in the future, and twelve months later it did. Verse 33 starts out with, "Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of Heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird." It is hard to imagine that God did this to a man but He did. Like I said, He knows how to humble people.

He got Nebuchadnezzar’s attention and this is how he responded, verse 34 says, "At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes towards Heaven and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High, I honored and glorified him who lives for ever. His dominion is an eternal dominion, his kingdom endures from generation to generation." Then in verse 36 and 37 it says, Nebuchadnezzar speaking, "At the same time my sanity was restored my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was returned to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the king of Heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble."

If God loved this King that much to turn him around, He will do the same with us if we start falling in love with the world. But in the end it will be our choice to make. So if you find yourself in this situation I hope you will make the right choice. God Bless you and have a great day.