Don't Wait For Retrospection To Reveal God's True Vision For Your Life

John 12:12-16 - The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.  They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”   Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:   “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

 

Jesus had been telling them for days about what was going to happen to him soon. It was now time for Him to fulfill all of the plan God had laid out in front of Him. The only problem was the people…including His disciples… didn’t hear a word He had told them.  They had a vision of an earthly king that just wouldn’t let go of their hearts.  So they let the many explanations of what was about to happen go in one ear and out the other. They picked up palm branches and shouted praises and celebrated the man …the long awaited Messiah…the king that would take over the earthly mess Rome had made of their chosen nation.

 

It was the last verse that caused me the most reflection.  How true it is that we just don’t understand what is happening until after a bit of time has passed.  We see and hear what we want to hear.  We try to fit God into the plan we envisioned for ourselves…instead of letting God fit us into the plan that he has for the whole world. We hear God and use our human flesh to try to interpret what he says…instead of letting the transformed heart he gave us open our eyes to the bigger picture.

 

Father thank you for the reminder that you have a plan for me that is good….and will prosper me and give me hope for the future.  Forgive me for the times that I have let my earthly flesh do the interpretation of what you have told me….missing blessing after blessing from the bigger plan you had for me.  Help me to always let you do all of my thinking for me….by using the transformed heart you are building inside of me as I study and pray for your will to be done in my life. Amen.