Resting in God's Plan: A Spiritual Reflection
Summary
### Summary
As we transition from summer to fall, it's a fitting time to reflect on our spiritual journey. Where are we spiritually, and where do we want to go? The key to this reflection is planning to rest. In our busy lives, we often forget to slow down and seek God's guidance. The Old Testament emphasizes rest, with one of the Ten Commandments being to keep the Sabbath holy. Lamentations 3:40 urges us to examine our ways and turn back to God, a call to repentance and self-assessment.
In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus teaches us not to worry about material needs but to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. This passage reminds us to focus on God and let Him handle the details of our lives. We often spend our time on activities that don't align with our values, such as watching Netflix or playing video games. Instead, we should prioritize our relationship with God, family, and friends.
Scripture encourages us to value God above all else. Exodus 20:3 commands us to have no other gods, and Psalm 73:25-26 speaks of God as our portion forever. Philippians 3:7-8 reminds us that knowing Christ is more valuable than any earthly gain. We must align our time with these values, even though it's a struggle, as Paul describes in Romans 7:15-20.
To bridge the gap between our values and actions, we should ask ourselves what we want our lives to look like in 10 years and what needs to change to achieve that vision. Anxiety about the future is common, but Jesus teaches us to trust God, who knows our needs and has a plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that God has plans for our well-being, giving us hope and a future.
Ultimately, we should seek God's Kingdom and righteousness, trusting Him to provide for us. This involves simple yet profound practices like reading the Bible and praying daily. As we do this, we rest in Christ's righteousness and trust God's plan for our lives, knowing that He will give us exactly what we need when we need it.
### Key Takeaways
1. Plan to Rest: In our busy lives, we often forget the importance of rest. The Old Testament emphasizes rest, with one of the Ten Commandments being to keep the Sabbath holy. Taking time to rest allows us to seek God's guidance and align our lives with His will. [01:23]
2. Examine and Repent: Lamentations 3:40 urges us to examine our ways and turn back to God. This call to repentance is crucial for spiritual growth. Regular self-assessment helps us identify areas where we need to change and align our lives more closely with God's will. [03:18]
3. Seek First the Kingdom of God: Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:31-34 not to worry about material needs but to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. By focusing on God, we can trust Him to handle the details of our lives, freeing us from anxiety and worry. [03:59]
4. Align Time with Values: We often spend our time on activities that don't align with our values. To bridge this gap, we should ask ourselves what we want our lives to look like in 10 years and what needs to change to achieve that vision. Aligning our time with our values helps us live a more fulfilling and purpose-driven life. [10:20]
5. Trust God's Plan: Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that God has plans for our well-being, giving us hope and a future. Trusting God's plan involves simple yet profound practices like reading the Bible and praying daily. As we do this, we rest in Christ's righteousness and trust God's plan for our lives, knowing that He will give us exactly what we need when we need it. [20:50]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[00:35] - Transitioning from Summer to Fall
[01:23] - Planning to Rest
[02:19] - Lamentations 3:40 and Self-Examination
[03:18] - Repentance and Reflection
[03:59] - Matthew 6:31-34: Do Not Worry
[04:58] - Prayer and Trust in God
[05:26] - Audience Interaction: How We Spend Our Time
[06:20] - What Do We Value Most?
[07:03] - Valuing God Above All Else
[07:47] - Psalm 73:25-26: God as Our Portion
[08:39] - Philippians 3:7-8: Gaining Christ
[09:29] - Aligning Time with Values
[10:20] - Bridging the Gap Between Values and Actions
[11:40] - Vision for the Future
[12:19] - Addressing Anxiety About the Future
[13:03] - Common Anxieties
[14:25] - Jesus' Teachings on Worry
[15:32] - Trusting God with Our Needs
[16:11] - Seeking the Kingdom of God
[17:01] - Simple Practices: Bible Reading and Prayer
[18:15] - God's Will on Earth
[18:56] - Seeking God's Righteousness
[19:32] - Resting in Christ's Righteousness
[20:01] - Trusting God's Plan for the Future
[20:50] - Jeremiah 29:11: God's Plans for Us
[22:21] - Conclusion: Resting in God's Plan
Study Guide
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
1. Matthew 6:31-34: "So don't worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
2. Lamentations 3:40: "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord."
3. Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you—this is the Lord's declaration—plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
#### Observation Questions
1. What does Jesus instruct us not to worry about in Matthew 6:31-34?
2. According to Lamentations 3:40, what are we encouraged to do with our ways?
3. What promise does God give us in Jeremiah 29:11 regarding His plans for us?
#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness help alleviate our worries about daily needs? [03:59]
2. What might it look like to examine our ways and turn back to God in our daily lives? [03:18]
3. How can trusting in God's plan for our well-being, as stated in Jeremiah 29:11, change our perspective on future anxieties? [20:50]
#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your current schedule. How often do you intentionally plan to rest and seek God's guidance? What changes can you make to prioritize rest? [01:23]
2. What are some practical steps you can take to examine your ways and repent, as encouraged in Lamentations 3:40? [03:18]
3. Identify one area of your life where you tend to worry about material needs. How can you shift your focus to seeking God's kingdom and righteousness in that area? [03:59]
4. Think about your daily activities. Are there any that do not align with your values? What specific changes can you make to better align your time with your values? [10:20]
5. How can you incorporate simple practices like daily Bible reading and prayer into your routine to trust God's plan for your life? [17:01]
6. What is one specific anxiety you have about the future? How can you apply the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 to that anxiety? [20:50]
7. Reflect on your vision for your life in 10 years. What needs to change now to achieve that vision, and how can you trust God in the process? [11:40]
Devotional
Day 1: The Importance of Rest
In our fast-paced lives, we often overlook the necessity of rest. The Old Testament underscores the significance of rest, with one of the Ten Commandments being to keep the Sabbath holy. Taking time to rest is not just about physical rejuvenation but also about seeking God's guidance and aligning our lives with His will. By planning to rest, we create space to hear God's voice and reflect on our spiritual journey. This intentional pause allows us to recalibrate our priorities and ensure that we are living in accordance with God's desires for us. [01:23]
Exodus 31:15 (ESV): "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death."
Reflection: How can you intentionally plan a day of rest this week to seek God's guidance and align your life with His will?
Day 2: Self-Examination and Repentance
Lamentations 3:40 calls us to examine our ways and turn back to God, emphasizing the importance of self-assessment and repentance. Regular self-examination helps us identify areas where we need to change and align our lives more closely with God's will. This process of reflection and repentance is crucial for spiritual growth. It allows us to recognize our shortcomings, seek God's forgiveness, and make necessary adjustments to live a life that honors Him. By regularly examining our ways, we can ensure that we are on the right path and continually growing in our relationship with God. [03:18]
2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV): "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"
Reflection: What specific areas of your life need self-examination and repentance today? How can you turn back to God in these areas?
Day 3: Prioritizing God's Kingdom
In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus teaches us not to worry about material needs but to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. This passage reminds us to focus on God and trust Him to handle the details of our lives. By prioritizing God's Kingdom, we can free ourselves from anxiety and worry, knowing that He will provide for our needs. This shift in focus allows us to live a more peaceful and purpose-driven life, centered on God's will rather than our own concerns. Trusting God with our needs enables us to experience His provision and faithfulness in our daily lives. [03:59]
Colossians 3:2 (ESV): "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
Reflection: What steps can you take today to prioritize seeking God's Kingdom and His righteousness over your material concerns?
Day 4: Aligning Time with Values
We often spend our time on activities that don't align with our values. To bridge this gap, we should ask ourselves what we want our lives to look like in 10 years and what needs to change to achieve that vision. Aligning our time with our values helps us live a more fulfilling and purpose-driven life. This involves making intentional choices about how we spend our time and ensuring that our daily activities reflect our core beliefs and priorities. By doing so, we can live a life that is more in line with God's will and experience greater satisfaction and meaning. [10:20]
Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV): "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."
Reflection: What is one activity you can reduce or eliminate this week to better align your time with your values and priorities?
Day 5: Trusting God's Plan
Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that God has plans for our well-being, giving us hope and a future. Trusting God's plan involves simple yet profound practices like reading the Bible and praying daily. As we do this, we rest in Christ's righteousness and trust God's plan for our lives, knowing that He will give us exactly what we need when we need it. This trust in God's plan allows us to live with confidence and peace, knowing that our future is secure in His hands. By cultivating a daily habit of seeking God, we can grow in our faith and experience His guidance and provision. [20:50]
Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV): "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you struggle to trust God's plan? How can you practice trusting Him more in this area today?
Quotes
1. "So today's sermon is going to be about thinking through these kinds of transitions. And since we're at a transitional point right now, in terms of summer going into the fall, I thought it'd be a good time for us to think not just about that transition, but transitioning our own spiritual life. Like, where are we spiritually? I want you to think about this for yourself. Where are you spiritually? Where have you come from? And where would you like to go? Or where maybe ought you to go? How do we make plans to get to where we know God wants us to be?" [01:23] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "In so much of life, we have so many things going on that sometimes we forget to rest. Sometimes we forget to just slow down a little bit. Say, God, where do you want me to be? Where do you want me to be? It's interesting that when you read the Old Testament, there's all these commands, over 600 commands of things that they told. That God told the Israelites to do and to be. But as we saw in Exodus chapter 20, one of the biggest commands was simply to rest. One of the top 10 commands, 10 commandments, is to keep God's Sabbath. It means to rest. It means to rest." [02:19] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "It's important for all of us to do, each of us, when we look at our life and consider where we are right now, to say, is there anything that I need to repent of? Is there anything that I need to examine my ways and turn back to the Lord in? So we're going to talk today about life. Life today, and then also life in the future and make a plan. We're going to compare our lives to scripture, our lives to scripture, our passage of scripture today, our primary passage in Matthew chapter six, and see what needs to change." [03:18] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "So as we talk about this, I also want us to think about what ought we to value? What ought we to value? Of course, being in church, I hope that we would all, recognize that faith, that faith in God, faith in Jesus, and God himself and Jesus himself are things and people to value. As we talk about planning for the future, not only should we take an assessment of where we are, but we should take an assessment of where we ought to be, who we ought to be in the future. So scripture encourages us to value God above all things." [07:03] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "We go for the easy, the quick enjoyments, rather than focusing on the more important things of life and eternity. Romans 7, 15 through 20, even Paul had this struggle, for I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law. The law that it is good. In fact, what it's, and it continues, yeah, sorry. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me, for I know that nothing good lives in me that is in my flesh, for the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it." [11:05] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "What needs to change in your life so that your time better flex your priorities? Like, we can ask that question, but unless you're actually working towards who you want to be or who you know you ought to be, you're not going to get there. Right? By hoping for it. But if you start looking at your habits, your daily time, how you actually use your time and start to mold yourself into who you want to be in 10 years, then by God's grace and by God's strength, you can get there, who it is that God wants you to be." [12:19] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "Now more than ever, people are anxious. People are anxious about life. People are anxious about the future. I looked at some various studies online to show this. There was a graph. There it is. Percentage of adults, U.S. adults, feel more anxious than the previous year. You can see every year, people get more and more anxious about life. In 2022, 32%. 2023 is 37%. 2024, 43%. Almost half, almost half of U.S. adults just have a general anxiety all the time about life and about the future. I think we can probably see ourselves in some of this." [13:03] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "We consume ourselves so much with all the details of this life. And there's nothing wrong with asking the questions, because we do have to make choices. But instead of worrying about them, we can simply trust the Father, who already knows all the things we already need. Instead of seeking out after all these things, all the details that aren't ultimately the real questions of life, Jesus gives us a different goal to strive for. Look at verse 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." [16:11] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "So how do we seek His righteousness? Not just His kingdom, but His righteousness. We can seek to live righteously, right? We can seek to show His righteousness by the way that we live to others. But can we do that? Sometimes. I hope that as Christians, we're learning to do that more, right? But like Paul said, I know the good I want to do, but I fail to do it. So even more than, and not saying, I'm not putting us off the hook for living the righteous life that God calls us to live. Certainly we ought to do that. But even more than that, we rest in Christ's righteousness. We rest in Christ's righteousness." [19:32] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "We worry about so many things, but instead, the Bible simply calls to us and says, seek the kingdom of God, resting in Christ's righteousness, and trust God to give you exactly what you need when you need it. And, and he did. Jesus gave you exactly what you need when you needed it, when he died on the cross." [22:21] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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