Plan to Win
August 13, 2018
Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3
The popular approaches to healing and freedom are attractive but flawed. We accuse demons, say someone just needs to stop sinning, claim who they are in Christ, say a specific releasing prayer, get deliverance, have more faith. The problem is, while all of these elements can hold some truth and some help, true healing and freedom involves my participation in an ongoing way. We don’t work for our salvation—it is a free gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we certainly do work on our spiritual growth and relationship with Christ. This process is healing and freeing. It is sanctification, various New Testament writers say, and it works through our cooperation in our deepest parts.
Taking the difficult and often painful steps for healing is an integral part of our growing relationship with God. He uses our situation and the healing process to mold us and make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ.
God will always do His part in the healing and freedom process. He will provide the power, the comfort, the guidance, the encouragement, the insight, and the endurance we need. We have to do our part by working the plan.
This is the perspective Paul shared when he said to his friends in Philippi, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).
Our job is to immerse ourselves in God’s love, trust Him to help us examine ourselves honestly to see the truth of our lives and situation, and then develop an obedient plan. He says when we commit our plans and actions to the Lord, He will make them succeed.
- Commit to a trust-filled examination of your life for the areas God wants you to address now in your life.
- Ask Him to help you specifically follow the plan you develop over the next few days.
- Thank Him for the freedom and health He has promised and made available.