Friends' Favorites - Based on the Evidence

 As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.
Acts 28:3-6 NLT

How quickly the people of the island judged Paul to be a murderer, then almost as quickly decided he was a god, based on the 'evidence' in front of them. In both instances, with the so-called proof right before their eyes, they were wrong. 

God had a plan for Paul's life, and it didn't include dying on that island. The circumstances and their opinions didn't determine the outcome because Paul knew - and believed - what God told him was going to happen.

In Psalm 139, David tells us that God formed us in our mother's womb, and every day was planned out before we ever drew our first breath. Does that mean that every sin, every mistake, every mess up we make was already planned for us? No, it doesn't mean that. I believe God has a perfect plan for our lives, but sometimes we don't follow His plan. What happens then? 

I believe God pulls out His potter's wheel and remodels the clay, because of what is written in Jeremiah 18:1-6, The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand."

Oftentimes, people are quick to judge and hand out predictions about our lives, too, based on the evidence of what they see. Even worse, WE are quick to judge ourselves unworthy or incapable of fulfilling God's plan based on what we've done and what we know about ourselves. However, even with what we know, we can be just as wrong about that as the island people were about Paul.

God already knows what's in us. He put it there along with a measure of faith. You remember faith, right? Hebrews 11:1, Faith shows the REALITY of what we hope for; it is the EVIDENCE of things we cannot see. [emphasis mine] 

It is THAT evidence on which our lives should be based. 

Prayer:

Father,
           Open our eyes to see Your Truth as written in Ephesians that we are Your masterpiece. And You created us anew in Christ, so we can do the good things You planned for us long ago. We want to fulfill Your plan. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.