The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
-Proverbs 16
-1 Corinthians 16
We don't plan for moped wrecks. We don't plan for a lot of things that happen in our lives. The world would chalk this up to chance, but we should know better. In fact our lives, our words, even our schedules should actually say "if the Lord permits."
Maybe not those exact words.
Its amazing how hard God has been trying to hammer this concept into my brain and even deeper into my heart. As the leader of my family, I'm in charge of the planning. When things fall apart it falls on me. This can quickly invite a lot of worldly pressure into your life, and if you don't have a godly perspective on planning, you can quickly lose site of the gospel.
Seriously, the gospel?
Seriously, the gospel. Let's take Paul for example. Before his life was radically transformed by Jesus, Paul lived for his own glory. As a religious man, he persecuted Christians to prove his obedience to God and others, however, his self-righteousness was blinding him to God's true purpose for him. He made a plan to go to Damascus to continue this religious act; then God showed up. In fact He straight up knocked him on the ground with this concept. From that point on we see Paul's life radically changed by the gospel into a life lived for the gospel.
The point is; our lives have radically been changed as well. Our plans and schedules should scream "I love Jesus and want to do His will." And this takes seeking His will. So stop and look at your plans. Do they point towards your glory or God's? The truth is, if we surrender our lives wholly to Him, He will do great things for His glory and our good; whether we planned for it or not.
-Tyler
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Awesome Tyler.
ReplyDeleteI'm continually amazed by the strength it takes to lead a family. The examples from you and Rob and Bobby have made clear that it's a burden and privilege only a Godly man can bear well.
I think it's worth repeating that "if the Lord permits" is a necessary qualifier to every plan. There's this line from Van Zant (a band with somebody from Lynyrd Skynyrd): "if you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans." I think that gets a 10 on the truth meter.