Christianese 101: God’s Plan NOT yours

Imagine two people were given a seed, which was placed in the ground to watch over and cultivate. Both people were given an instruction on how to care for the seed to cause it to grow. Person A, was told to hop on one foot near the seed at least twice a day, until he was tired. Person B, was told something similar, but because he had so much KNOWLEDGE about taking care of and growing plants, he REFUSED to take care of the seed the way the instructions stated. No, instead he went to Google and YouTube to research and figure out HOW to grow the type of seed he was given and began doing NORMAL things to take care of a seed he thought was average.

Man A obeyed the instruction and hopped on one foot every day, and immediately saw some type of growth in his seed, whereas the man who became doubtful and discouraged by the instruction saw no growth at all. As man B saw man A begin to get fruit and growth from what he was doing with great ease, he became frustrated and discouraged! ‘Why is this man getting any growth at all? What he is doing is foolish! It makes absolutely no sense according to everything I’ve researched and all I know!’.  Unfortunately for man B, the person who gave them the seed was NOT an average man, but was God, and was the One who gave him the instructions as well.

A lot of people like to say God’s way is better than our own way, but is that really true? How many times have some of us been like man B and thought that WE knew better than what God was telling us to do? How many of us ever thought that we could outsmart and out calculate God and His plan? I’ve been there before in the past, because I am a person that occasionally will over think or over analyze things. I usually will plan ahead and calculate things down to the last detail, so I can feel confident going forward. Unfortunately, God does NOT want us to work like that at all when it comes to His will!

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9(ESV)

Look, you DON’T know better than God! Us humans can’t even agree on how the Earth was formulated exactly, how in the world would we know beyond what someone who created it is going to do? His way is so much better than our way that His way always works no matter what and if we are not on board with what He wants to do, then nothing is really going to work out in our favor, unless HE intervenes. God could use the way that seems the most foolish to us, like hopping on one foot to grow a seed, to cause increase and success in area. If God tells you to do something, it’s usually for a reason number one, but it’s also because He knows better than you. Even if God didn’t tell you ANYTHING initially, if He decides that where you’re going is the wrong path and direction it does NOT matter how carefully you’ve planned or thought out what you’re going to do, it’s going to be God’s way or the high way(to Hell on earth in your life).

“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)

A lot of people, myself included, love to plan and calculate things so that they can avoid disastrous situations, which makes a lot of sense and you should do that. However, God will sometimes(*COUGH* A LOT of times *COUGH*) purposely PUT you in impossible situations so you can learn to depend on Him! If you want God ordained results, a God ordained spouse, a God ordained job, a God ordained degree, or a God ordained anything, you need to follow the instruction He gave and not your own plan. The truth is GOD is the one that plans out things, even every detail of our life, not US! The only thing He tells us to do, is to not be anxious, filled with fear, and to not doubt Him. We are commanded to put our full trust in what He wants to do while HE makes all the plans.

So, if you’re like man B, and are trying to do everything YOU think is right, instead of doing what God said, please, stop doing that. Making plans are ok, but God never expects us to plan so in-depth so WE can avoid a horrible pathway. No, that’s God’s job! It’s HIS job to plan to the point where HE shields us from danger or destruction. You can plan all you want, but GOD is the one who will have the final say on what is or is not going to happen, not YOU!  The wicked spend their time plotting, the godly spend their time trusting in God and not having to worry about anything knowing God will take care of them. It took me a long while to learn that, since I’ve been determined to have an ‘evil genius’ personality type, always plotting, even if it’s good plots ;).