“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those love him.” Do you trust God when he says no or not in this way? Do you hold on to the hope that God really does work out everything to the good of those who love Him? God is not frustrating our prayers. He has heard, and in wisdom withheld an unusual work. God withholds blessing only in wisdom, never in spite or aloofness. The Lord is teaching me to say with the psalmist, 'I delight to do Thy will,' instead of the usual, 'Well, I suppose it's the Lord's will so we'll just have to put up with it.' Although it's true that God's plans do not always work out in the ways we would prefer, it is amazing how often we focus on the relatively few difficult circumstances of our lives and tend to forget his repeated, loving acts of deliverance that occur so regularly. God is doing things that you don't understand, things that are deeper and better and more wonderful than you imagined, but you must believe! Absolutely refuse to worry! Consciously and deliberately remind yourself that in his timing, God is able to take care of the situation fairly and fully. You can always trust him to do that. Though you hear nothing, he is speaking. Though you see nothing, he is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to him. 

I’ve seen Satan use the future as a weapon against our spirits. He wants us to worry. He wants us to take our trust out of our Father and put it in ourselves, in our own hard work, in our own ability to control the circumstances, knowing that if we do, we are sure to fail. The father of lies uses future events to cast fear into our present. But we should remember that the shadow a thing casts often far exceeds the size of the actual thing itself and though some future fear may strut brave darkness as you approach, the thing itself will be but a speck when it is behind you. Anxiety makes tyrants out of us. Joy-sapping worries. Day-numbing dread. Repeated bouts of insecurity that petrify and paralyze us. Hysteria is not from God. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love and self-control" (2 Tim. 1:7)

The Father has something unimaginable in mind for our lives, literally. Whatever it means to be filled to the brim with goodness and life, that's what God wants for you. He wants that for you now, in this life, and he wants that for you forever. When pleasures will move us toward that kind of life, that's what he gives. When pain moves us toward it, that's what he gives. God stands ready with whatever it takes to provide his children with abundant life. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be. This often incredibly painful process strips off our selfishness, pride, and fear.  

Only the Spirit knows the mind of God, and it is up to us to follow and obey the Spirit. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. But we have the mind of Christ.

Where God is leading me:
Through prayer, God has been revealing a lot about my future and my abilities to me to the point where my mind is beyond blown. Through several mediums (Pastor Tim, an elder, personal prayer), God has told me some absolutely jaw dropping things. I want to record them here so I can remember just all that he has in store for me.

Over the summer, an elder of a church I was working with prophesied over me. God told me that He would give me a book and that I would know what to do without a doubt when it was time. He told me I had a gift of making application out of the Word. He told me to not worry about money. He told me He was well-pleased (What joy!).

In the last few weeks, I have been praying with Pastor Tim, a man who has the gift of listening prayer (allowing God to speak through him). God revealed almost word for word what that elder had said 3 months ago (straight blew my mind). God told me I would be a leader, a trail-blazer, one who would not be content with the average life. God kept speaking of wisdom and proverbs and the ability to write and interpret real application out of scripture. God said I would have a severe passion to disciple others and I would have a life of adventure. He mentioned things of deep personal nature, so deep I don’t need to publish them ;)

All these revelations have blown my mind and were a complete gift. What an incredible God we serve. I will say it again, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those love him.”

So know that God is both in control and full of good thoughts towards you (what an incredible combination!). Go, refusing to worry, allowing your mind to leap at the unimaginable thought of all God has in store for you, if you will only love him and trust him.