Our Plan B is not from God

Picture Courtesy: Entrepreneur

Genesis 16:1-2: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

Exodus 32:1a: “When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods^[a] for us who will go before us…”

1 Samuel 13: 11: Samuel asked, “What have you done?” Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, ¹² I thought, ‘The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

God promised Abraham a son and showed him the stars in the sky and the sands that were vast and told him that his offspring would be as numerous as these. But there was a problem: Abraham did not have any child. God knew that of course! But after God promised Abraham, He went silent for a few years. When what God promised did not seem to be happening, Sarah decided to take matters in her own hands and gave Hagar to Abraham as his wife. They took God’s dream plan and made their own strategies. We know now what the result of that decision has led to…

In the passage in Exodus, Moses had gone up the mountain to talk with God and it seemed he had delayed. The people decided to take matters in their own hands and planned a Plan B. Their leader seemed to have disappeared so they made new GODS for themselves.

In the passage in 1 Samuel, Saul was in a difficult position. The heavily armoured Philistines had lined up to battle with Israel. Only Saul and Jonathan had weapons of war. Their troops had none. The troops were petrified and hid in all possible places. King Saul waited for prophet Samuel. When the prophet seemed to delay, he took matters in his own hands for the sake of his troops.

In all 3 situations, it seemed like plausible solutions! It seemed practical. Like a good idea. Yet God was not in any of them. He was silent. Perhaps to test them to see if they would still come back to Him for a strategy or if they would decide to do something with their own human reasoning. In all 3 cases, they each did what they thought was right. God was not in their decision making process. He was not in their Plan B. They consulted other sources. But they did not consult with God.

What promise has God given you? What have you done with it? Have you waited on Him to carry on the good work He has promised for you? Or have you taken things in your own hands because He seems to be silent after giving you the promise?

God does not follow our time plan. He does not follow human logic and human reasoning. If He has given a promise, it defies human logic and reasoning.

He planned to give Abraham and Sarah a son despite the deadness of Sarah’s womb and their age!

He planned to lead an entire nation through the wilderness to a land flowing with milk and honey.

He gave the nation of Israel a king who would lead them during times that were challenging and would succeed in his mission as long as he obeyed God and followed His ways.

God does not go by our Plan B. Quite contrary to the way of the world where every person works out what they think is the best plausible way forward, God does not go by that route. It is an easy route to plan things our way. But God sometimes tests our obedience with His silence after giving us a promise to see what is in our hearts- if we will still allow Him on the driver’s set of our lives or toss Him out and regain control of the steering wheel of our lives.

My friend, whatever God has promised you, you can rest assured He will carry it out to completion. His promise requires a different strategy and a different strategist-God Himself.

His plans for us are higher than our plans, His ways are higher than our ways.

May we have the humility to surrender to His plans. May we take our hands off the promise He has given us and trust Him to bring them to pass in His own way and in His own timing.

Prayer

Heavenly Father it is beyond my human comprehension to understand such unconditional love. Who am I oh Lord that You are so mindful of me at all times? Help me Lord to never decide for a Plan B when I do not hear from You as often as I would like to. Help me to not treat Your silence as an opportunity to take things into my own hands. Help me to trust You with all my heart and to not lean on my own understanding. I choose to acknowledge You in all my ways all the days of my life. I surrender myself afresh into Your all knowing, all powerful and all loving Hands. In Jesus’ most matchless Name I pray, amen.