04/07/2022
Are we living out a carefully devised plan for our lives? Have we considered all the world’s circumstances, and done our utmost to determine the best course of action for ourselves, and our family? Well, let me ask one small question… is it God’s plan? Did you go to Him, and ask Him to reveal His will to you? Fallen men create sinful plans… not necessarily because that is their desire, but because each of them is imperfect, and thus the raw materials they use to form their plans is tainted by sin.
““Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!”
Isaiah 30:1-2 ESV
Sometimes our own will becomes our god. often we want to take the reins of our life into our own hands without asking God which horse we should ride, which way we should go, or what we should do. We create a plan, and at first it appears to work like clockwork, but eventually the cracks and faults appear, and we find ourselves standing in the center of a crisis looking to God for relief from the disaster our plan has become, or for His rescue from its sin.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”
Jeremiah 29:11-12 ESV
God wants us to make plans, but not based on our own understanding of what is right, or what we think of as proper, or good in our eyes, no, He wants the first action in the formation of every plan we make to be the same… to seek first the will of God. If anything else comes first then the plan we have devised is doomed to failure from its inception.
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”
Proverbs 19:21 ESV
We might think that being a success in life is to make a lot of money, live in a mansion, have a super model spouse, to always be healthy, to have power, or any of the other marks on the yardstick of an earthly life, and sadly, these are the things that go into the equation when we form our personal plans. On the other hand, none of these is of much importance to God, and they are used simply to lead us to the next degree of righteousness.
“Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”
2 Corinthians 10:12 ESV
Seeking after wealth, or having a lot of money, means nothing in Heaven where gold is used like asphalt or gravel to pave the streets. What is important about these things are the lessons God teaches us in them. We learn such things as how to love one another enough to give them our money, how not to sin as we work to have a mansion, to lean on God for healing, the importance of letting go of all these earthly things to follow Jesus, and how we should let go of these things before they can become an idol, or a god to us.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 ESV
So how do we construct the plans for our lives? Do we develop them and then ask God to bless them as we attempt to carry them out, or do we ask our Father what His plan and will is for us… then determine how our desires fit into His? Has God’s plan for us become ours, and have we conformed ourselves to His will?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the plans you have for us, and help us to obey your will as we live them out. We come to you often with our own desires and lay them before you. Father we seek out your will in them, and ask that you work with us as we attempt to form plans about them. Your plans are built on perfection, and without you ours are filled with sin, and fall far short of righteousness. Help us Lord to remain true to your commandments, will, and plans, even as Jesus was true, and to learn every lesson you have prepared for us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who has formed plans for us that have been in place since the foundation of creation. Praised be your name for revealing them to us as we follow Jesus throughout our lives. Help us to understand your will, and receive the full measure of your love and grace through it. Merciful are you Lord as you keep our feet from slipping, and our eyes fixed on you. Comforted are we in knowing that your plan for us is good if we will love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Wash us clean of all sin with the blood of Jesus, and continue to pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. Judge us to be worthy in your Son Jesus, and let Him say of us that in as much as we were given to Him, we were not lost… not one of us. We pray that this is your plan for us, and our greatest desire.
“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”
Psalm 33:10-11 ESV
Rich Forbes