I've Got a Plan

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine...

Isaiah‬ ‭30‬:‭1‬

I like to have a plan. It can be a detailed plan for a particular day or for a bigger event. There is just something settling about having an idea of what you want to happen and how it should take place. The problems set in when we fail to seek God's wisdom in our planning. 

Far too often I am guilty of forging ahead with my own ideas and best practices and fail to bring God into the equation until the end. Asking God to bless what I have planned without any input from Him isn't really what He has in mind. How much better off would I be if I took the time to seek His counsel through prayer, meditation, and study of His Word? God would be deeply involved in the process then and not just sought out for His rubber stamp of holy approval.

Shifting Allegiance

Then he (Moses) took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Exodus 24:7

That sounds like a group of fairly committed people. In fact, I think they believed the intent of their own words and didn't plan on falling short. In that moment the people of Israel wanted to follow God and stay under his authority. Sadly, history tells us that less than 40 days later they had failed miserably and suffered the consequences of their decisions. 

On the surface it seems hard to believe that an entire group of people could shift their allegiance so quickly. Before we decide to judge the Hebrews too harshly perhaps we should examine our own life patterns first. How quickly we walk away from our commitments? How often do we make bold statements about our convictions and then abandon them in a matter of days? What life changing resolutions have we written down and then ignored once the shine of their newness wore off? 

If we want to make positive declarations about what we will (or won't) do, we've got to have a corresponding action plan to make it stick or we're just making a lot of noise.