I was less than two years old when I walked right out of our Naval issued housing apartment and right into the
deep end of the pool that was close to our home. My head plunged under the water and I gasped for air while
pleading for help. I could see several people watching my desperate splashing and head bobbing. Within minutes I
was pulled out and my mother was at my side to take me home.
Years later my mother recounted the story and how she handled my toddler experience. She had turned her
back just for a moment and I was gone. Immediately she called her friends and they organized a search only to find
me safely in the arms of a lifeguard. Her fear of losing me was so great that she said she spanked me all the way
home. I didn't remember any of the spanking, but the near drowning was seared into my brain as one of my earliest
memories.
Why did I survive a near drowning while other children died from the very same experience? Did I have a
destiny that demanded that I be saved? Was my life planned out before I was ever born by a supernatural all
knowing God?
Isaiah 49: 1&2, "Listen to me, distant nations, you people who live far away! Before I was born, the Lord chose
me and appointed me to be his servant. He made my words as sharp as a sword. With his own hand he protected
me. He made me like an arrow, sharp and ready for use."
Isaiah mentions several times in his writings about being planned before he was born. He opens up a concept of
life that has been hidden in our present day world. He lifts a veil of remembrance that covers the minds of most
people to the truth that there lives have a spiritual appointed purpose that goes beyond human comprehension.
Did we volunteer for the experiences we would face on earth? Did God put us in pivotal positions in order to
accomplish His will? Do I have a responsibility I must fulfill before I can exit this world and find rest in the perfection
of Heaven?
Isaiah 49: 5&6, "Before I was born, the Lord appointed me; he made me his servant to bring back his people, to
bring back the scattered people of
said to me, 'I have a greater task for you, my servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of
who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations- so that all the world may be saved."
Many theologians look at the above scriptures as having a two fold message. One is referring to
destined to tell the world how to follow God through the obedience of the Laws of Moses. The last and greatest
belief for Christians is that these verses refer to the ministry of Jesus Christ and how He brought in the saving
power of grace and provided us with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ's ministry changed everything. He removed the veils of forgetfulness that kept us from
understanding our purpose. He gave us the Holy Spirit as our inner guide. With the supernatural power of the
Spirit we don't need anyone to teach us God's will. The Spirit teaches us on the inside and leads us down the
paths that we were appointed to go on before we were ever born.
Ephesians 1:11, "All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own
people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning."
If our lives have a purpose planned before we were born then we should look at our lives differently. We should
separate ourselves from how the world tells us we are suppose to live. Instead we should grab a hold of the
teachings of God and apply them to our everyday lives. We need to be instruments for God, not for Satan. We
need to love and not hate. We need to do good, not evil.
Ephesians 1:3-5, "Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with
Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. Even before the world was
made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without
fault before him.
Because of His love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ, He would make us His sons, this was
His pleasure and purpose."
We were planned before the world was even formed. A plan that has a purpose to change us through the
experiences we face in the world.
When I look back over my life I see God working out His plan in me, I see how my life changed for good through
what I suffered in the world. I saw how a light of understanding removed the veil of forgetfulness that kept me from
knowing God's plan before I ever entered into the world.
Because we come as children we are in a weakened state of intellect that makes us unable to remember God's
purpose for our lives. It is only through increments of time that we see our paths. The first plan is understanding
our need for the saving power of Jesus Christ. This happens when we survive, while others do not, a life
threatening disease, natural disaster, war, famine, plague, accident or any number of things that happen to people.
The second plan is when we realize how much we need the saving power of Jesus Christ to free us from being
pulled down by sin.
Satan is the god of this world and as a result he has blinded our eyes to what is good and bad. He tells us to
live in the world for ourselves and to take what we want regardless of who we hurt. God opens our eyes to truth as
He moves us along the paths that are geared to bring us to a new light of understanding. With each moment of
wisdom we grow spiritually and we understand that to give to others is more important than what we receive.
Our world is full of opposites, war and peace; death and life; good health and chronic illness; poor and rich;
justice and corrupt practices, rob us of our freedom; and of course good and bad. In order to discern the
differences we must change as we go through the journey of life and follow God's plan. In His timing there will be a
big reveal especially designed to teach us a spiritual value we would not have understood except by going through
the trial.
Ephesians 1: 18-22, "I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope
to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his
power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when
he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world. Christ rules there above all
heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; he has a title superior to all titles of authority in this world and in the
next. God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things."
Understanding that we are planned and that our life has a spiritual purpose can help us to fight for God's will for
our lives. We must read our Bibles. We must pray at all times for Jesus to help us. More importantly, we must
apply God principles of love to our everyday lives.
1 John 3: 10, "Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: anyone who does
not do what is right or does not love his brother is not God's child."
I was saved from drowning as a child because God had a plan. Each day as I matured and grew, I came to a new
light of understanding because I allowed God principles to lead me through life. I made myself do what was right
whether I liked it or not! I listened to the Holy Spirit, prayed and applied the Bible's teachings.
1 John 2: 28&29, "Yes, my children, remain in union with him, so that when he appears we may be full of
courage and need not hide in shame from him on the Day he comes. You know that Christ is righteous; you should
know, then, that everyone who does what is right is God's child."
Our world has a beginning and an end. We must focus on doing what is right so when we face our judgment day
we can have confidence when we see God that we have done everything He planned for us to do.
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