Amber pointed out that sometimes we hold on to our plans vs. God's simply because we know our plans, and we don't know His. We don't grasp the concept of mystery as a motivating factor in our lives. It is true that when we have to put effort into learning, processing, and figuring things out, we place more value on those things. Part of our lives, and thus ourselves, are invested in them. But instead we're playing it safe, as if God is subject to faulty human planning just like the humans we see around us (or in the mirror). But according to Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 139:13-16, that is not the case. God is acutely aware of what He planned for us, or, as Brooke put it, what He planned us for. (I'm getting ahead of myself -- but it was a great discussion!) Look at the scripture in Psalms again. The Contemporary English Version says "Your eyes saw, my substance [essence, ability, desire], being yet unformed." He planned us out before He put us together! But rather than trusting him as Proverbs 3:5 says to do, we tend to follow the thought-line of Isaiah 29:16 and think God can't do any better with our lives than we can.
And, as Amber stated, part of trusting God and His plan means waiting on Him -- not just as long as we can put up with it, but as long as it takes. Best quote of the night: "Sometimes we mistake "WAIT"s for "NO"s." It's not "now or never" with God, and we get frustrated when we try to hold Him to that idea. If we can't involve ourselves in the activity of waiting (and it is an activity -- but I'm getting ahead of myself again), then we can't involve ourselves in the unfolding of the mystery that is God's plan for our lives, and how sad is that? To never really get what God has for us because we're too busy demanding right now that we get what God has for us? Because whining and nudging God and getting all huffy and puffy does not make God move any faster. It's like tailgating -- it pretty much only leads to road rage and fender-benders, or worse. (I mean, if that's your goal in life, rock on, but can I refer you to our earlier talk about "plan B"...)
Some other great points brought up (half of which I've already mentioned) in relationship to waiting for God's plan instead of pushing our own:
- Kevin pointed out Job 36:2, which is great to remind yourself whenever you're about to give up -- "wait for me a little longer," 'cause you don't know the half of what's about to happen.
- Psalm 37 -- just read the whole chapter. It's all about desires being fulfilled for the children of God who trust and wait on Him.
- Brooke's description of God's plans -- "It's like God said, 'I have this plan... I should create somebody for that.' And you were the result of His planning." It gives new meaning to the idea that "you exist for a reason."
- Amber and Kevin took us to Psalm 31:14-15 and Job 24:1, and pointed out that the word "times" (meaning seasons, days of life) is the same source word in both places. God is completely aware of all the "times" (even the ones we don't realize -- fancy that), and when we trust Him and His ability to take care of our "times" (deadlines, life cycles, everything), the result is something only God can achieve -- His plan for us.
2 comments:
Is there some rule that says you can’t post on your own discussion? I really hope not. Dayton laughed at me when he saw my notes – I had written everything out, word for word because I knew if I didn’t, I’d forget something I really wanted to share. Yet, even with doing that, there are still a few things I’d like to mention (but I will really try to keep it short – there’s a first time for everything).
One thing I want to point out is what Alicia said. Near the end of the discussion, we talked about how hard it is to wait on God. Alicia mentioned that the word ‘wait’ is a verb, implying action. To wait is not to sit around and do nothing. Waiting on God requires us to continue with our day-to-day routine until God shows us what the next step is. Is it easy? Yeah, not so much. But it goes back to if God saw us “clearly and distinctly” before the human eye could see us in the womb, won’t His plans for us be perfect and amazing? We have to “rest in hope” as it says in Psalm 16:9 and trust that God is working things out, even when we feel He’s busy with other things. I love to look back on situations and see how God took care of me. What’s really cool is that the way He did things wasn’t how I originally thought (my plan A) but was really for the best (HIS plan A).
Surrendering our plans in return for God’s is not easy; giving up that control is hard. I was thinking about how many current songs are on the radio that talk about this very topic: “I Surrender All” by Clay Crosse (an oldie but a goodie), “Give It All Away” by Aaron Shust, “Here I Am” by Downhere, and “Ruin Me” by Jeff Johnson, just to name a few. They all talk about the act of laying down our plans and desires so that God can show us what He has up HIS sleeve.
So many of our topics somewhat come to the same conclusion: Have faith and trust God. While it would be very easy to dismiss hearing yet another sermon or discussion on such topics because we have heard it all before, I think it is so important to remind ourselves to listen & trust God and His timing. Although we may all know it, I'm guessing none of us live that way all the time. We worry when we are told to never do so. We beg God for things we really don't need and may not even be aware of the consequences like Hezekiah. So, the more we concentrate on His plans, the better off we'll be. Maybe the more we hear these messages and back them up with scripture, we'll improve our faith and patience.
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