“You *are wearied by your many counsels.” *or struggle with your many plans. -Isaiah 47:13

I can’t even count the number of times in my life that my planning and plotting has unnecessarily complicated my life… and exhausted me. Not that God can’t redeem, but there comes a day when we stop asking God to, “Bless/fix our mess,” and we start asking God, “What is your will?” 

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit (benefit), Who leads you in the way that you should go.” -Isaiah 48:17

I think our definition of profit and God’s definition are vastly different. 

Check out this old Chinese proverb. Setup five children talking to the Emperor.

Deng: Well, oh Emperor. We are very poor. Our family could use a bigger home.

Emperor: A home? Done! (Clap, clap)

Chou: And a larger property to farm.

Emperor: More land? Done! (Clap, clap)

Li: And more money.

Emperor: Gold and wealth? Done! (Clap, clap)

Jiang: And we would like to be able to go to school and perhaps train for the imperial guards.

Emperor: Education and Position! Done! (Clap, clap)

Yan: And oh generous and spontaneous emperor, would you mind telling our parents that we have done something important.

Take a moment and allow humility to wash over our human reasoning… As both a child and a parent, I kneel convicted. Praying for His redemption to cleanse my very bent reasoning and understanding. But here is the Good News, we don’t have to live to impress anyone. Our Heavenly Father Loves us perfectly and unconditionally, and He wants us to learn about Real Profit… the Everlasting Treasure… and He made a way for us to do this.

And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him, For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and My God is My strength.” -Isaiah 49:5

So Jesus came, The Servant, so that we may have His Same Spirit – the Spirit of a Servant – so that we may learn Eternal Profit. 

Our humanness squirms at the the thought of being a servant, but everything in the Me, the Me that He defines, is whispering that this is The Opportunity we were created for, Servanthood*… and in this place, we will know Life. Letting go of our plans and letting Him to His Plans in, for, and through us.

I must add one asterisk to this post: *I am not referring to physical service; I am referring to Physical and Spiritual Surrender so that He may have His way with us. “Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction not simply that we should do something for Him. (He will have us as He intended us to be, Living Glory with Him- not dead in self separated from Him.) We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?” -Oswald Chambers