Finding God's Life for My Will Quotes

“Okay, God, I have these dreams and these desires and talents, and they seem to be leading me in a particular direction. So show me where they need to shift and change to be Your dreams and Your desires.”
― Mike Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“He loves when we don't have all the answers but we act as though we trust that He does.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Our loveliness to God doesn’t rise and fall with our usefulness.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Jesus doesn’t seem to require leadership skills of anyone; He only bids them come and follow Him.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“I've come to believe that God is much less interested in what we do with our lives and much more concerned with how and why we live our lives.”
― Mike Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“I don’t know about you, but I want to reject any label other than ‘child of God.’ I’ve tried other labels, and they only weigh me down. I’m done trying to make a name for myself. I’m done trying to leave a legacy, and I’m done disguising my complacency as trust in God’s sovereignty. I’m done impressing. I’m done with building my own reputation.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Okay, God, I have these dreams and these desires and talents, and they seem to be leading me in a particular direction. So show me where they need to shift and change to be Your dreams and Your desires.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“In other words, I went with what I knew instead of letting what I didn’t know paralyze me.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“In Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov, the following words shone brighter than my best attempts to sum up my thoughts:

I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage...in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come up to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but justify all that has happened.”
― Mike Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“However, I’m learning more and more that God doesn’t want me to be in chaos. He wants me to rest. He wants me to have a deep unshakable joy in my soul. He wants me to really act like I’m accepted. If He makes me a leader, it’s not so I can gain everyone’s approval; it’s so I can share this principle with them. Dreaming that depends on surrender. Serving that involves receiving. This is the way of rest Jesus came to show us. All is surrender. All is His. Follow Him, and He will make you fishers of men.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Obviously, you and I have no control over the labels given to us. If we take the initiative to help or guide others, people will start calling us leaders. This shouldn’t change our focus. Our focus ought to remain fixed on who God is and who we are in light of His love. We must constantly resist the temptation to fixate on how others see us.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“And sometimes the only thing keeping us from God’s dreams for our lives is our unwillingness to let go of how we thought our own dreams should go.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“I’m not here on the earth to win awards. I am here to believe my heart is God’s reward. So is yours.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“In order to truly have the lasting ability to love another person selflessly and not as a means to feel better about ourselves, we must be fueled by the Father’s heart. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). If your obsession with yourself is growing while your love for others is fading, maybe you don’t need to try to be more loving. Maybe you need to reacquaint yourself with the love God already has for you. You don’t even need to try to think of yourself less; you only need to think about God’s love more. His love crowds out our self-obsession.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Some people might say, “Oh, you’re talking about narcissism. That’s an easy fix. You need to quit thinking about yourself and love other people more!” Although I agree with that sentiment, often our motivations hold us back. You can’t just get up and decide you’re going to love people more. Try as you might, you can’t change your own heart. Even if you do start loving people more as a result of your commitment, chances are you’ll also begin to look down on anyone who doesn’t love people as much as you do. On the other hand, if you fail to live up to your new resolution and you don’t love others well, you’ll most likely be drawn into self-condemnation for your lack of resolve.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“I believe now that affirmation is not the cure for ego; wonder is. Nothing will cause you to forget about yourself like being caught up in awe of another.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Letting go of the “leader” persona means nobody owes you their following. They’re free to follow you or not. Turning your attention off yourself gives others the same freedom.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“A person can’t give us a glory big enough to satisfy our souls. A fat bank account can’t do it either. Last I checked, nothing I can get this side of heaven will fill up this God-shaped hole inside me, so maybe I should relax a little bit and settle into the discontentment. Whatever it is I’m not yet receiving, I needn’t be afraid when things don’t turn out the way I planned. Chances are, as some dreams die, that’s the exact moment when others are beginning to come alive.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Frustratingly, the ways of God are often all about delayed gratification. Tasting God changes our wayward desires and allows us to go longer with unrealized good desires, as well. If I’m about to have an incredible cup of coffee, I will joyfully wait for it. It’s a crude example, for sure, but it’s true. For a couple waiting for their adoption to come through or a cancer fighter waiting on a clean bill of health, having the expectation of fulfillment makes the waiting far more manageable.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“It’s important here to mention that not only does He change some of our desires, but He also gives us the peace to live with unrealized desires. Our patience grows. When we taste and see God, we get better at waiting.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan

“Notice as you delight in God, just as you delight in anything, that delight will shift what your heart wants more of. Before God gives us what we want, He changes what we want, until He is all we want. He changes our taste buds, spiritually speaking.”
― Michael Donehey, Finding God's Life for My Will: His Presence Is the Plan