God Wants the Final Say...
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 9:12AM Isa 22:11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
Isa 30:1 "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;
Isa 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!
Recently I read this scripture and I started to think of all of the times in my life that I have made what seemed to be the "best" plans only to realize later that they were only "MY" plans. God is the master builder of my life and He has the blueprints for how it should be laid out, but somehow along the way I step in and start trying to fix things for the future. I sometimes wonder how much time I have wasted trying to help God’s plan?
In Is 22:10-11, the Israelites were putting together strategies to defeat the Assyrian army even though they knew that there was no way they could win. Verse 10 says they were planning to store up the water supply to both keep it for themselves in time of need and to keep it away from the Assyrians army. Actually, this was not a bad general war strategy but, because of God said in verses 11, it wasn't the best plan. Notice how they were guilty of not looking to HIM who was really at work among them, the One who pre-plans things long before we even come along! God wanted to be their defense. How many times in our lives do we make good plans that seem right but forget in our own busy-ness to ask God first? There is nothing wrong with using the intelligence God gave you to come up with strategies, but ultimately we have to learn how to rely on God WHILE we are planning so that He can direct us through this maze called life. He sees what is “around” the next corner when all we can see is the “corner”. God wants you to make decisions in life but He wants to be your guide through our connection with His Holy Spirit and Word.
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Our best laid out plans are never good enough. God gave us a mind and we have the ability to arrange things in and around our lives, but He never intended for us to do it without His help. The bigger part of our personal responsibility as believers is to include God in our decision making processes, giving Him the leading role and the last word.
There may be a reason God needs something to take place that you cannot possibly see the reasons for. For instance; when a small child wants to eat candy before a meal, it seems good and tastes great. His first thought is, "why can’t I do it?" But all mature parents know that filling up on the wrong things will cause the body to suffer later, no matter how good the idea seems at the moment. In fact, it takes years to teach kids right from wrong in all areas of life so that they learn to make informed decisions on their own, which will lead them to become responsible adults.
The reasoning does not always make sense to a child but in the end obedience will save them lots of heartache and pain. It is the same with God, He knows the beginning from the end, He knows what war strategies will work for you and which ones will be a waste of time and energy. We can put our minds to the test and come up with absolutely great sounding ideas, but if we do not seek Him first they will be in vain BECAUSE He knows the beginning from the end but we only know the beginning!
Learn to trust God in all of your plans and decisions, you will find that He gave you a mind to think with but it's His Spirit working deeper in your "inner man" that helps you understand what is really right for you. The days we live in demand keen spiritual discernment so remember to use all your God-given resources and watch Him defeat your enemy right before your eyes and bring you into your promised land!
Pastor Bobbi
Reader Comments (1)
Ask god before I do something? What about free will? I think it was in Bruce almighty when Morgan Freeman said "that's the problem, Eveyone keeps looking up for the answer." What if my enemy asks god, gets a response then I ask god and get a response. In the end one of us will still lose. This is dumb