When you think about the future, do you feel anxiety? Well let me tell you, thinking about the future is not your problem … it’s trying to control the future that causes your anxiety. God has not given us the power to control what comes next, so assuming that false position over our future creates anxious thoughts and frustration. Honey, it’s not working!

Often times our thoughts about the future center on it being too late for what we had hoped would happen. We’re behind. We missed it. Now, we’re rushing, stressing, and pushing.

When we overwhelm ourselves with thoughts of being too late for the future we want, we can rush into open doors not meant for us. What, you think the enemy of your soul doesn’t open doors too? Dang right he does! All the wrong doors opened by the forces against you await down hallways you have no business even peeking down. But there they are, wide open. And if your thoughts about the future center on worries of being too late and falling behind, then you get sucked right into those wrong doors. Wrong opportunities. Wrong relationships. Wrong places and wrong times.

Single ladies, you know what I’m talking about. When the clock is ticking, and your man is still lost somewhere on the route to find you because he won’t stop and ask for directions, all the wrong men start looking a little better. You just need someone because the loneliness is killing you. So, you jump into that relationship that you know isn’t right, but it’s right now, so you settle.

We will settle for anything when we feel we’re running out of time. But God takes his time, and he wants you to trust his time!

We see this example in the story of Abraham and Sarah. They’re old, real old, and they have no children. Out of desperation, Sarah suggests that Abraham sleep with her assistant Hagar so they can have a baby. Now I’ve heard enough Maury Povich stories to know that ain’t gonna end well. And it didn’t end well at all.

Let’s read a bit of the drama in Genesis 16: 1-6 (don’t be confused by the slight difference in names. Sarah was Sarai and Abraham was Abram at this time. God had not changed their names yet to walk in their full purpose).

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife.
So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”
Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.

So … Hagar is an angry pregnant woman with hormones. Sarah gets jealous. Abraham is stuck in the middle. Ultimately, Hagar and her baby get thrown out.

And all this time, God had promised Abraham and Sarah a baby, but because their thoughts of the future were centered on it being too late, they tried to control the future and walked through an open door never meant for them. They rushed. They controlled. And they created chaos in the wait.

The truth is, it wasn’t too late for the future they had hoped for. God had always aligned for Sarah to miraculously become pregnant with their baby.

They did not have the power to control what was coming next and when it would come. By assuming that false position over their futures, they created a mess.

Have you too created a mess? Have you been watching the clock, thinking time is running out, and these anxious thoughts have led you down the wrong hallways with doors opened, but not opened and ordained by God? Is that you? Do you see it?

If that’s you, here’s the good news … God hasn’t cancelled his promises for you. Even with your wrong choices made in desperation, God still has good plans for your future. Just because Abraham and Sarah rushed through the wrong door to have a baby with Hagar, God didn’t cancel Sarah’s destiny to have baby Issac.

And God hasn’t cancelled your destiny either. Turn to him and recognize the mistakes you made. He understands you just felt the pressure of time. He understands you were seeking what you were missing. He has tremendous compassion and ample grace to cover this.

John 1:16, “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” That’s right … even when we have wasted his grace, out of his overflow, he offers even more grace where he has already given it and we’ve already wasted it. My sister, you have not run out of God’s grace! The last mistake was not your last chance. The last wrong door didn’t close all of God’s right doors for you.

Romans 5:20 says, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” You have not out sinned God’s grace over your life. You haven’t screwed up one too many times. You just require more grace, and God says, “my girl, I have more than enough for you!”

Pray this now: Lord, please forgive me for rushing in the wrong doors because I was trying to rush your timing. I need your help to fix this mess. Now, please strengthen me to not rush again. Grow passionately patient faith within me to now wait for your good plans that still fill my future.”

I’ve always prayed for open doors, but recently I learned to pray for closed doors as well. Lord, if you’re not in it, I don’t want it … lock that door! Block me from anything that is less than your best for me.

Garth Brooks sang, “sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers” … well, sometimes I thank God for locked doors because this girl would have surely ran right through them thinking it was too late for anything else.

It’s not too late. You’re not too late. God’s good plans for your future still await.

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