Tag: plans

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Steady steps with God.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Psalms 37:23-24

A psalm of David, inserted into the collection of psalms during the Babylonian captivity. This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, making it a Hebrew alphabet poem. It is a comparison psalm of the wicked and the just as well as of good and evil.

Not knowing how old David was when he wrote this, it’s most likely that he wrote it towards the end of his life, when one tends to reflect back on everything they have experienced. I love these couple of verses because I wholeheartedly agree! When I was young, about fifteen or sixteen, as a new believer in Jesus, I was digging deep into both Psalms and Proverbs. I decided to commit my ways to the Lord, just like Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” As well as, Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” These verses became my personal “decision grid,” when making big life decisions. These mantras were both mystical but powerful to watch God lead and guide my life, as well as direct our lives (Robin) together as a married couple. It was much later, in my fifties, I matched these verses with Paul’s famous words in 1 Corinthians 16:9, “because a great door for effective work has opened to me, even though many oppose me.” My wild-brain plans + God’s promise to plant our feet exactly where they need to be + big blue-sky opportunities = a life well lived in the Kingdom of God.

David had to have lived similarly! His life was a thrill-ride, full throttle rollercoaster. He experienced unexpected highs as well as crushing, debilitating lows. Yet, here in Psalm 37 his confession becomes a roadmap for all who desire to follow God – the Lord directs the steps of the godly! Should I seek peace in my decisions? Of course. Should I take risks? Absolutely. Should I look for wild opportunities that require more faith than sense? Why not! It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence in our great God and His foresight and wisdom in leading us. Does it backfire and blow up in our face sometimes? Yes, most definitely. Should that deter me from getting up, dusting off my dumb decisions and keep moving forward? No way. God DELIGHTS in every DETAIL! Even our failures. Not mockingly, of course, but as a good father who picks up their child after skinning their knee and declares – that was an amazing feat of courage! Let’s try that again.

David’s admonition should solicit our soul, though they STUMBLE (because we 💯% will do so), they will never fall! It’s God’s hand that holds us and sustains us. Go and live the great adventure of faith, wonder and beauty of God, it is totally worth it. “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” C.T. Studd (1860-1931). “Where sky and water meet, Where the waves grow sweet, Doubt not, Reepicheep, To find all you seek, There is the utter East.” C.S. Lewis (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader).

Prayer

Dad,
Not only have you given me one life to live, you have reached down and pulled me out of the muck and mire, the dark sludge of sin! You have set my feet on solid ground and put a new song in my heart – a song of great praise to you Oh Lord, my God. So whom shall I fear, for you are my light and salvation! Amen.

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Perfect plans

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“No human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the Lord.” Proverbs‬ ‭21‬:‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is both comfort and mystery in this Proverb. It is a mind-boggling proposition to think of the entirety of human existence and total creation of all that exists being examined, challenged or micro-managed from our limited vantage point. Actually, it’s hubris to imagine that we could even begin to understand it. These concepts come under huge words like omniscience, omnipresent, and omnipotent – all knowing, all present and all powerful. The sovereignty of God!

These are big words to understand by us as eternal beings, who are very limited to our physical experience here on earth as created beings. God’s full foreknowledge of everything from OUR physical beginning to our physical end is nearly impossible for us to grasp. Super smart folks can think about someone or something outside of time itself, because time is also a created construct, but honestly, I can’t.

God being above or outside of all creation, means that everything is NOW. All our past is now, our present is now and our future is now. And, I’m not talking about my past, present and future, I’m talking about all of creation! Right there, just thinking about God being outside of time gives a glimpse of the mystery of this proverb. No human “anything” can stand against the Lord. And, neither can any other created thing or being stand against the Lord – even created angels for example. Angels, Satan being one of those, are created beings! They are not omni anything. This word, sovereignty, has been argued about and misapplied for eons! Does God’s foresight and foreknowledge mean that He made it happen – that God determined that it happen? That’s the big question of God’s sovereignty versus humans free will. The theological understanding of eternal security verses human choice or the ability to not believe nor submit to God’s will is a difficult conundrum. This paradox appears to look like God predetermined His acceptance of some and rejection of others.

You should see how this verse touches on this very old argument about God’s sovereignty! If God’s will is that you be saved, can you reject Him? If God’s will is that you be rejected, can you be saved? Hard huh? There are whole groups of people, whole denominations, that are oppositional on this very thing. And they’ve been arguing, disagreeing and divisive about it for hundreds of years.

Where am I on this? What do I believe? I believe in God’s total sovereignty! There’s no way I see the Bible declaring anything contrary. However, I believe in foreknowledge, God’s total knowledge of all things, all decisions. This does not mean that God forced, or made humans to decide one way or another. This comes up most often with two characters in the Bible, Pharaoh and Judas! Moses told us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and the gospels pretty much tell us that Judas was born to betray. Ah, but who knows the human heart and the decisions that those men made at the time. Only God knows that. Who’s to say that they made decisions against God’s will while God continued to convince them otherwise, right up the end of their life. Sooner or later, everyone who believes in God must reconcile this question of how God’s sovereignty works in our our lives beyond just salvation. It should also be settled in our everyday occurrences of pain and suffering. Is there determination behind our tragedies? Is there purpose in our loss and grief when unfathomable evil snatches our loved ones from this planet? I have settled such questions, have you?

Prayer

Dad,
I am thankful that I have only had to settle two big thoughts about your sovereignty. One, I believe you are always right, true and just. And two, I believe I can trust you no matter what circumstances or culture says about who you are. You have always been good and faithful in my life and I have no reason to doubt you in my future.

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Plan early – plan twice – but stay open.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Plan early, plan twice is a famous military axiom. Proverbs has its own set of wisdom axioms. Many folks believe that Proverbs is all about promises or guarantees, it’s really about principles. Of course, Godly principles are more than just strong suggestions, they have the personified wisdom of all creation, as seen in Jesus life here on earth. I’d bet my life on these Godly principles!

If you have lived a life a faith for any length of time, you’ll realize the dynamic tension of this Proverb. Other translations capture the nuance of this Proverb a little better than NLT. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man…” says another translation. Humans can and should make LOTS of plans! It is one of the wonders, benefits and beauties of being made in God’s image. Should I even make plans since God’s purpose will override them anyways? That’s not really how it works even if it feels like a deterministic exercise. Why should I make plans if God just has His way regardless? See how negative and self-defeating that sounds? God wants us to not only make plans and live a full and wonderful life here on this planet and in this slice of time. He wants us to thrive and do so with gusto and abundance. This isn’t some kind of name & claim it theology, this is how God designed life to be for us from the very beginning. Yeah, there is a requirement in this anticipated life of joy. It’s expected that one is pursuing a godly life, one filled with goodness, rightness, and His truth of justice.

The big mistake is thinking that God is the crusher of dreams and the smiter of all that’s fun. That’s a lie. Pursuing God means pursing good verses chasing after selfish, evil desires. You are aware that there is evil bouncing around in our hearts, right? Quit blaming God for trying to stop us from doing evil!

We will be pleasantly surprised to find out that when we make plans for godly pursuits and good aspirations, that God is right there cheering us on – the breath of God putting wind in our sails. When we are led by the Spirit of God I am 100% positive that those plans are godly and completely within the plans of God himself! And, I am equally confident that when I make plans that are NOT going to turn out well for me and others, that God’s purpose does prevail to turn those plans into something good.

We have been warned that our heart, when it is not committed to God is “deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 tells us. Personally, I have embraced the whole idea of making tons of plans and dreaming big, godly dreams. All of which I have submitted to God with the phrase Jesus spoke in the garden of Gethsemane – “Your will, not mine be done.” Sure, there have been some ragged right turns, some topsy-turvy turnabouts and lots of puzzled prayers. Overall, I saw God’s hand in it all. I saw His plans prevailing even when I could not figure out (while going through dark times) what He was up to. Looking back, it more than makes sense and that presently helps me when my faith waivers looking forward.

Prayer

Dad,
I remember someone telling me from an old quote, “Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” That has given me hope and confidence in your ways, your plans, and your will above my own! My trust is solid in you. I have made and followed through with plans that needed to be altered by you, and I am eternally grateful you intervened.

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The sweet spot of wisdom – decision making

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

These simple verses could be the synopsis for the entire book of wisdom. My mistake was thinking it was just for youth, just for late teens, early twenties. Once I got going in life; graduated college (first ever in my family), got married, had a child and settled into my calling from God to be a Pastor, I would be able to take things from there.

These verses were never meant to be a fortune cookie saying. I only thought the hard decisions were about getting started in life or at super big crossroads. I did not think of sustaining a godly life by continually trusting God, ignoring circumstantial signs and seeking His will. Oh silly young Padawan!

Robin and I both have had multiple missteps, life-altering moments and decision points since our youth. And, although I had memorized this verse and mentally quoted it at the start, I somehow had it hardcoded to our beginnings. And, I made the mistake of ONLY associating these verses with big life decisions, when clearly there are daily applications in them. Let’s put it this way, I STILL must trust. I still must ignore the ANTs (automatic negative thoughts). I still must seek God’s will in everything. With every decision pondered in prayer. Then with every conviction of faith, I must look for the path that God wants me to take. After that, it’s just about standing on that decision, confident that God has not and will not mislead me!

For example: With most of my people judgements I use the decision tree template of love. If I am to push my way in, wading into the muck and mire of the mess we get ourselves into, I have to decide if love requires that I enter into someone’s personal space to help. I ask, “What is my motive here?” Because if it’s to gain or spitefully be right, then it’s not love. Then I ask, “Am I willing to see this all the way through?” Because if I don’t count the cost, I may flake out when it gets really hard or expensive. Then I have to confront myself by asking, “What if I’m wrong?” I am talking about being wrong to get involved, butting in, throwing myself under the bus! If I make it through the mental flowchart and I get the go ahead, I quietly whisper, “For Christ and His love!” and with Paul’s words to the churches in Ephesus (Eph 4:15) – I go for it. I can definitely add these verses as a pre-checklist prayer as well.

I plan to tattoo these verses on my brain so I can quickly access them everyday.

Prayer

Dad,
Remember how many times I cried and quoted these verses in my teens and early twenties? I was scared out of my mind! I was desperate to do right. I felt ill equipped and awkward making big life, adulting kinds of decisions. You were the only one listening! You were the only one I could trust. I kind of miss that desperation. I also remember having one of those MAJOR crossroads moments when I was forty. I felt like I was completely changing my calling not just careers. You were and are so faithful to answer, to lead and guide. I am so grateful for your kindness and patience with me.

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Plan once, plan twice.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”
Proverbs‬ ‭16:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Plans, plans, plans – we all make them, we all have to live with them. I know people that “plan” their “free time,” days off, vacations, daily meals, and even sex! I have friends that are not just planners, they are OBSESSIVE planners. It gives them a certain amount of safety and control.

This wisdom chapter alone drops the word plan three times. And, if you throw in the word path, in a couple of verses, that’s five. We CAN plan… but God determines, God gives, directs the way things turn out.

I like to think of it as walking down a path, and with each footstep I lift my foot deciding where it lands, or maybe even when it lands. I’ve already picked my destination and the path chosen to get there. My feet just follow my will and desires to get to where I want to go. However, just before my foot hits the earth, God may alter its trajectory. Maybe it’s slight, almost unnoticeable, but when I arrive at what I thought was the destination I wanted, it’s different! How did I get here, I ask?

God ultimately gets us where we should go. And, ultimately it’s good. I love the verses paired with this one, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs‬ ‭16:3‬ or “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬. Plans show up all through Proverbs because it is wise to do so. However, not all plans are good and not all desires, wishes and dreams should come true. It is good that God determines those steps before they land. The Apostle Paul had a great piece of advice in 1 Corinthians 16:9, “There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.” See the opportunities. Make plans to go for it and carpe temporis! Just know that God, who knows what’s good and best will get you where you need to be.

Prayer

Dad,
I have had MANY plans, ideas and inspirations about where my life should go and what I want out out of it. Yet, through every step of the way you have not only been faithful, you have been extraordinarily gracious and gone beyond my wildest godly aspirations and pursuits. This Proverb, this wisdom nugget got me through the most difficult part of adulting, trying to figure out how to do life with no real roadmap. Yes, I followed my heart. Yes, I prayed. Yes, I got STUCK in indecision far to often for far too long. But every time I look back, I see your hand that directed, determined my steps and they were good. You are good. I am so very grateful for your guidance and patience in my life.