God wants to shape and form us to fulfill His plans for our life. Many people miss out on all or most of God’s plan for their life because they don’t want to follow. Even as Christians we struggle giving up our free will to that of the Lord. Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23, “Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [1]
To be a follower of Jesus is an ongoing action. Giving up our free will to follow the Lord needs to happen each day and that is the hard part. It is only with God’s help that we can really pick up the cross daily and follow Jesus. The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:13, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.” [2]
What I can’t do on my own, I can do with the Lord’s help. The Lord’s desire is for me to take up my cross daily and follow Him. When I obey the Lord, I am literally giving up my free will and following His desire. When I do, I will find myself in spiritual green pastures and able to drink from still water. When I follow my own way, I usually find myself in a spiritual desert. As an adult, I can speak from personal experience as I had to learn some things the hard way.
We read in Isaiah 64:8 about the Lord being the potter. 8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. [3]
In our story, Moses obeyed the Lord. It was not easy, but it shaped his life only in the way God could. Exodus 7:6 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. [4]
Are you stuck in life or in a rut? Pray and ask the Lord to give you an obedient heart. As the Lord answers that prayer, don’t be surprised that God will begin to mold you in a way that you have never experienced before. When we truly take up the cross and follow Jesus, it changes us for the better as God’s plan begins to unfold in our life.
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[1,2,3,4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.