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Saying Yes to God’s Plan
discovering God’s best for your life begins with your decision
to say “yes” to His plans. Sometimes He will tell you something you don’t
understand or don’t want to hear - but His plan for your life is wonderful,
and you can trust Him to bring it to pass when you fully surrender to Him
by David Cerullo
Finding and
doing the will of God is a vital part of having a happy and fruitful Christian
life.
And it all
begins with saying “yes” to God.
Most of my
young life I planned to become a doctor. But God had other plans for me.
I remember that
day like it was yesterday.
It was 1986,
and I was with a small team on its way to meet a delegation of Tanzanians
coming to attend the African Congress on Evangelism led by my dad,
international evangelist Morris Cerullo.
As our rickety
van bounced and bumped across the desolate African plain in the shimmering
heat, I could see a large sign painted on the side of a small building in the
distance.
At first, I
couldn’t make out the words. But as we drew closer, I stared in disbelief at
the faded red and white logo sprayed across the dilapidated shack: Coca-Cola.
I shook my head
in amazement. There we were, 7,000 miles away from the marketing gurus of New
York City’s Madison Avenue, yet Coke had made its mark.
Immediately I thought of a story I once heard about a Coca-Cola
stockholders meeting in which a member of the board stood to his feet and
declared with the passionate fervor of an evangelist: “Half the world has
tasted Coke, and we’re going after the other half!”
Sitting in an
old van under the blazing African sun, I was overwhelmed by a troubling
realization — one that would shape my destiny in the decades to come: While
half the world had tasted a popular soft drink, billions had never tasted the
eternal, life-giving water of Jesus Christ.
My heart was
grieved as I pondered how every second, of every hour, of every day, thousands
of desperate, thirsty souls around the world were dying, condemned to suffer
eternity in hell without God.
That day, I
understood that if the secular world could deliver its message to the farthest
corners of the globe, so could the followers of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit
began to birth a vision in my heart to find new ways to use media to spread the
Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Before that
defining moment, no one — including myself — could have guessed I would end up
leading an international media ministry.
Perhaps God is
preparing a similar turning point in your life as you seek His
will and are alert to His promptings.
Our Dreams vs.
God’s Dreams
Sometimes God
plants a dream in our heart that He wants us to passionately pursue.
At other times,
He wants us to surrender our dream to Him, so He can replace
it with HIS dream — which is far better.
When other kids
wanted to be firemen, policemen, or lawyers, I wanted to be a doctor.
Traveling to
the nations of the world with my dad as a young boy, I witnessed the incredible
depravity and distress of countless people in underprivileged countries.
I wanted to do
something to help relieve people’s suffering.
When people asked me why I didn’t want to follow in my dad’s
footsteps and do international crusades, I would explain, “I just never felt
called to preach. That was the furthest thing from my mind. God called my dad to
do that, but it was something I definitely didn’t want to pursue.”
You see, God
doesn’t want us to fill someone else’s shoes.
He has a unique
calling and destiny for each of us, and we’ll never be happy if we try to fit
into another person’s mold.
I was accepted
at the University of California San Diego — my “dream” college because of its
excellent medical school.
I was thrilled
by the prospect of attending a great school while still being able to live a
surfer’s life in San Diego.
But God had
other plans.
My parents urged me, “David, why not try Oral Roberts
University for a semester? If you don’t like it, then come back to San Diego
and go to UCSD.”
This was
the last thing I wanted to hear. Why would I want to move to
Tulsa, Oklahoma, to attend ORU, when I’d been accepted at UCSD, my dream
school?
My parents’
suggestion just didn’t make sense, and I didn’t want to go.
But I finally
said “yes” to my parents and enrolled at ORU.
“What About My
Kingdom?”
At this point,
I still wanted to be a doctor. However, while cramming for exams one night, I
distinctly heard God ask me a very pointed question: “What about My
Kingdom, David?”
“What do you
mean?” I replied, thinking it very strange that the Lord would ask me
such a question out of the blue, while I was cramming for finals.
God just
repeated the question, and I had a hard time coming up with a suitable answer.
“Well, Lord, I’m going to study hard and be a really good
doctor… a great doctor. I’ve wanted to do this my whole life. It’s my
life’s ambition, and I’ve never wavered from it.”
But no matter
how I responded, the question persisted: “What about My Kingdom?”
Finally, I cried out in frustration, “What is it You’re
asking me to do?”
After this
uncomfortable encounter with the Lord, I sensed the Holy Spirit leading me to
set aside my lifelong dream of becoming a doctor.
Still having no
interest in pursuing ministry, I felt I should change my major to Business.
This was
another decision that would serve me well as God used me to build not only an
international media ministry, but also a separate media company to advance
family-friendly programming.
Not Always an
Easy Road
Many people
have a big misconception about walking in the Lord’s will.
They think
everything will be easy once they say “yes” to Him, but often this isn’t the
case.
I’ve found that
circumstances often are tough, even when we’re in the will of God.
Sometimes we
can be tempted to quit when things don’t immediately go our way.
Yet, day after
day, I endeavor to bring God everything that’s within me, my faults and flaws
as well as my gifts and talents.
He hasn’t used
me because I’m special, but simply because I’ve wholeheartedly offered my life
to Him.
As I make
myself available, God does the rest. And He will do the same in your life.
As I have
repeatedly seen, discovering God’s best for your life begins with your decision
to say “yes” to His plans.
Sometimes He
will tell you something you don’t understand or don’t want to hear.
But His plan
for your life is wonderful, and you can trust Him to bring it to
pass when you fully surrender to Him.
God bless you,
David Cerullo is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Inspiration Ministries,
located in Indian Land, South Carolina – a ministry dedicated to impacting
people for Christ worldwide through media. The son of international evangelist
Morris Cerullo, David took a less traditional approach to ministry, graduating
from Oral Roberts University with a degree in business administration and
management. He has authored over 20 books, and operates a global media ministry
that powerfully impacts the world for Christ. More from
David on Inspiration.org.
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