according to his purpose for them.”

Other people have bad plans for your ministry, and you may make some bad plans yourself, but God only has good plans.

 

Not everything in your ministry may be good—God never promised that. 

We live on a broken planet. 

Nothing works perfectly. 

Your body is broken. It doesn’t always work the right way. 

Your mind is broken. It doesn’t always think the right way. 

The weather is broken, the economy is broken, and relationships are broken.

God did not promise us perfection. That’s called heaven! 

In heaven, there is no sorrow, sadness, sickness, or suffering. 

We should not expect heaven to be on earth, because the earth is filled with brokenness. 

But even in the middle of all this brokenness, God has a good plan for you and your ministry. 

He is greater than your bad decisions, and he can fit even foolish decisions into a good plan. 

What a God! He can turn crucifixions into resurrections.

 

But God’s promise to work everything—even the bad things—“together for the good” isn’t a promise for everybody. 

It’s only for those who say, “God, I give you my life. I want to fulfill the purpose you made me for.” 

 

Have you noticed that when you make a cake, the individual ingredients don’t taste good? 

Flour by itself does not taste good. Raw eggs do not taste good. Vanilla by itself does not taste good. 

But mix it all together, and you can create a tasty masterpiece.

 

When you let God work all the “ingredients” of your life together, he can take the bitter, put it in the batter, and make you better. 

Why? Because he’s a good God.

The more you pray, the better you’re going to know your purpose. And the better you know your purpose, the more God can use everything in your life—even the bitter and broken things