Recently, I was listening to the podcast from Cornerstone Church Simi Valley and Pastor Francis Chan asked a very intriguing question.

If Jesus stood up on stage and said:

Plan A: This year I will give you everything you want.  You will prosper, your family will prosper, you will get whatever you want but by the end of this year you will not be any closer to me.

Plan B: This year will be the hardest year of your life.  You may lose your marriage, job, and children.  You will struggle in everything you do especially when it pertains to your relationship with God but by the end of the year you would be closer to me [Jesus] that you could ever imagine.

Which you would you choose?

I only ask this because I know that I’d want to choose Plan B but I’d most likely choose Plan A.

Why is that?

Why is it that when someone sneezes we ask God to bless him or her?  Aren’t we already blessed? We:

• Live in America
• Make more money than most of the world
• Won’t die or get sick by drinking dirty water
• Have access to education
• Relatively healthy
• Etcetera

I’ve just noticed that we are very blessed and maybe need God to test us instead.  Most of us could use God’s testing, including myself, and would not enjoy the testing but the outcome.  The problem is that God gives us a choice on whether or not we want to submit to His will for our lives.  So I wanted to wish you something that may cause you much harm but in the end will also bring you closer to the joy of the Father and His glory.  May we choose Plan B and may He test us and do so deeply.