A Sudden Change of Plans

Isn't it just like God to suddenly change our plans? We're zipping through life, making plans for our future, making plans for our weekends, making plans for our day. Then all of the sudden, it's like there's been a "recalculation" of our planned route that we've so shallowly prepared. It becomes apparent that it isn't the route we will be following so we either fight the "recalculation" from the Lord or we submit and obey and go on a new journey. Anyone who has plugged in an address into a GPS device and made a wrong turn, or hit a detour in the road, has all heard a voice warning us, "Recalculating, Recalculating" and changes our route to better fit the new "recalculations" of the route we THOUGHT we planned out so meticulously. The proverbial "There's been a change of plans" turns the most patient of people into a panic-stricken pile of mess. Especially to those "planners" out there! Who likes "their" plans changed after all the planning, preparation and scheduling one has done to make things "just right?" Right! I've written a companion article to this one back on 1/14/2014 called "The Stop Signs in Life" and can be found here. I'm not much of a planner nowadays because I've learned years ago that no matter how much I THINK I know and plan for, ultimately, it will be God who directs my steps and He will shake up my plans anyway. It's happened too many times to count, but a valuable lesson was learned and applied to my life thereafter! Do I still attempt to plan something from time to time? Sure. I wouldn't be human if I didn't, however, mostly I don't plan. Mostly I let God drive and direct and map out my life's route because His paths are much more than mine! There are some things I've planned for as a rule of thumb in life in general, because, let's face it, some things MUST be planned. However, mostly, I'm not a planner. It drives the planners around me crazy, but that's OK. Their constant planning, prepping and scheduling isn't so calming to me either! And so, that brings me to my posting today.

Isaiah 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."

His Plans, Not Your Own

God did some of the greatest things in the Bible when He deviated from the expected plan. Let's take Mary for instance. Mary wasn't planning to become pregnant. She was planning on getting married to Joseph. She was planning for a wedding as all excited brides do before their big day arrives! But God had other plans for Mary because He was planning to change the world. His plan was better. So much in the same way, God pursues a specific plan in your life that is often in unexpected ways. But ALWAYS His plans are MUCH better. Think about your life for just a moment. Maybe it seems like it’s filled with dysfunction, chaos, drama or just plain bad luck. But you see, just like God the Father sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to Earth in an unexpected way as part of His perfect plan for all of mankind, God is also working out those unexpected and seemingly chaotic developments in our lives to fit perfectly into His good plan for us! Let's also look at Saul on the road to Damascus! The full story can be found in Acts 9 and I highly suggest everyone to read it through. If it's been a long time since you've read it, I'd suggest to read it again. Saul was very angry and was driven by an insane, intense rage to kill those who followed and preached about Christ. He literally went to the high priest, asking for letters of authorization to arrest any Christian he found in Damascus and bring them, chained, to Jerusalem. So in Acts 9, he began his journey towards Damascus, the letters in his hands and with murder in his heart. Yes, indeed. He had murderous intentions. He personally had a specific plan in his mind laid out nice and pretty in stone to play out. Those plans were to jail and kill as many Christians as he possibly could. So, when the Martyr Stephen was stoned to death, Saul was consenting to his death. The witnesses laid down their clothes at his feet to prove to him they were a part of his acts of terror against Christians. So as you can see, his "best laid" plan that was clearly defined in his very wicked heart, Saul journeyed to Damascus to carry out his purpose. But WAIT! It doesn't stop there! Things were just about to change.

Suddenly, there shone a bright light from heaven that literally knocked him off of his horse and he fell to the ground in shock! I believe any of us would have done the same thing! Sometimes, God has to literally knock us to the ground to get our attention and change our course that we've chosen to be on. Well, out of that Light he heard the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking very clearly to him: Acts 9:4-9, "Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 5) And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." 6) So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 7) And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8) Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9) And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank." The voice identified itself as "Jesus" and suddenly Saul was changed, converted. The Lord Jesus Christ redirected the course of Saul’s life forever. He completely changed his plans, his purpose and his destiny, all in one afternoon. Much like Paul, many of us are running after our own plans, foolishly having our plans written in stone and cast in iron and thinking nothing can change them.

People become so obstinate in their devotion to actually achieve all those things that they have written out, planned out, as their goals for the entire year. But, sadly, many of those plans are THEIR own plans, plans that often times originated from a place of pride, competition and even carnal desires. Many of those plans have origins and roots in the flesh and have not been birthed in a place of prayer, nor were they birthed by revelation upon studying on the Word of God! All things we do, say and act upon, should always be birthed from a place of prayer! Some of these same desires are a by-product of secret sins and evil desires lurking in the unreached, un-renewed, and untouched, regions of the deepest parts of our soul. Hidden from human eyes, hidden even sometimes from our own, but very naked and exposed to the Lord. He knows and sees all that is in the heart, mind, thoughts and souls of us all! None of us can hide anything from Him or from His sights! We can mask them from those around us but they are still there, still penetrating the corners, chipping away at our souls. These are the regions of our soul where the Lord seeks to perform His surgical work, if we would only allow Him.

You see, many of our human plans and desires are very legitimate in our own eyes, and we may convince our selves that they even serve a great purpose. But the Lord sees it quite differently. Some of those "desires and plans" possibly could consist of you wanting to expand your company; get promoted to a higher position at your office; get a raise; relocate to a different country/different state; start a new job or career; start a new ministry or church; get married to your dream spouse; start a family or have more children; travel; build, buy, or own bigger houses; buy a better, or bigger car, etc. The list is endless based on the individual desires. The carnal mind is literally "trained" to deceive us and lead us in the wrong direction, with wrong desires and wrong intentions. It is only through God’s Word that we can be delivered from its deception. And unfortunately, the human mind makes all of those things appear like legitimate petitions, however, we tragically fail to stop long enough to ask ourselves one little, but quite important, question. Just like Paul did on his travels on the road to Damascus, we need to ask ourselves, "Lord, what will YOU have me do?" This question needs to be asked from a pure heart, with genuine intentions, and is all that's important. All the plans we have are are just that. OUR plans. They're not the Lord’s plans. A few other questions that you might want to ask are, "Lord, what is Your WILL for me and what are Your plans?"

When the Lord changes your plans and sets you on a completely different course than you intended or you planned, don't be surprised. Paul is a perfect example in how we must be willing to yield our hearts and will to His own will. We MUST pray and ask that the Lord purge our hearts of every hidden, secret sin and perfect Christ in us. See, really, we need to set aside our own self-made brilliant plans and listen for our Master's voice telling us exactly what to do, when we need to do it and follow through with being obedient! As we all are aware, the days ahead of us are very dark. Anybody who prophesies peace and prosperity to you is a deceiver and sadly, in this life, in this fallen world, there are many deceivers masquerading around out there as ministers of the gospel. We shall have peace in our spirits and joy-filled hearts. The world is in decay. The world is in chaos. The world is in line with the prophesies of the Bible! Things must come to pass in the world, in the soil, on the ground, waters and pastures and all of it will be in a state of "death and decay." There WILL be peace in heaven. There WILL be peace after Jesus comes again! Until then, don't believe the lies! No "man" will bring peace. No "man" will "save" the world. No "laws" will protect you. We can't afford to live like the heathen, the unbelievers, who have no hope of eternity in their hearts. As believers, we DO have HOPE in Jesus Christ! We need to constantly live with eternity on our minds and in our thoughts.

I can’t explain from one millisecond to another, just how everything ties together in our lives and for His plans and in His Perfect Will. I just know they DO! In Matthew, he shows us that it all does tie together. It can be compared to the likes of a beautifully woven tapestry hanging on display that looks, feels and appears chaotic and dramatic on one side. But as you flip it over, it portrays a perfect, pristine picture, without one single strand out of place, without flaws and without blemish. That's us. That's His handiwork for us all. We may be a little rough around the edges on the outside, with some places in need of repair, but on the flip side, we are pure, perfect and beautifully without flaw! Our lives aren't meant to be about achievement in this materialistic world. It's meant to be about obedience to our Savior. It's about submitting to Him, surrendering fully to His will, and following His directions that He provides on our route! It's not about how much we accomplish, how successful we become, how much we make, or how popular we are. He doesn't commend us for achieving the world's things, but for doing the RIGHT things in obedience to the Lord! Our walk with Jesus Christ is about obeying His voice and directions and allowing Him to guide and lead our hearts in the direction of His choice, for His purpose and plans. Now this is hard for many people because submitting and surrendering means giving up control. Giving up control means you don't and can't get your own way! When people who find it difficult to give up control, can't get their way, well, a "temper tantrum" of sorts ensues! Not a pretty sight!

So let's spend just a few moments talking about a temper tantrum and not getting our way. Think about when you were a child and you didn't get your way. What did you do in "retaliation" to the word, "NO!" What did you do when you didn't get your way and how did you respond? Think of some situations and you will see that it likely wasn't the best way. But as a child, we must be taught how to learn to be told no and why it's in our best interest NOT to get our way in everything because some of the things we wanted our way IN, would not be safe, good for us or beneficial. It's never a good idea to always be given everything desired. It's never a good idea to always say YES. Life is full of "No's" and it's no different being a child of God. He is our Father and will tell us NO while also changing our plans to fit us better! As any good parent will do to their child! For me? When I was young and didn't get my way, my mom, rest her soul, called me "the thumper" because I would stomp my feet in pure defiance, pout, sometimes cry and it would usually end with, "but it's not FAIR!" Of course in a child's eyes, nothing seems "fair." I stomped alot apparently! I guess I always wanted things my way. Some children pull hair, scream and yell, huff and puff, sometimes even hit. In any event, we all had our ways of reacting to not getting our way. So do you still act the same way when God says "NO!" and changes up your perfect laid plans? I'd venture to say, there are still some of those "reactions" to God's "NO's" as there were growing up learning we couldn't always get our way! Maybe not to the same degree and in the same "foot stomping" way, but inside? You bet!

Learning to submit to God, to surrender yourself to His ways, plans and Will, means learning to trust and follow Him no matter what, even when you don’t really think His way makes any sense to you. Jesus didn't want to go to the Cross and that always surprised me. In my mortal ways and thoughts, I guess I'd imagined He WANTED what His Father wanted. I can definitely relate to Him - God called Jesus to do something so unbelievably hard and He actually didn’t want to do it; He knew it would be excruciatingly painful, sacrificial and difficult beyond anything He ever did up to that point. What I truly admire and am in AWE about is the way He handled it, how He handled it. Jesus didn’t rebel, lash out, stomp His feet, or just soldier on pretending to be fine and dandy. No, what Jesus did was He told God that he disagreed, but He kept on praying until His attitude changed and His desires matched His Father's. So when you come to a fork in the road and God seemed to have changed your plans, and you find yourself disagreeing with what God wants you to do instead, Prayer has the power to change our hearts, our attitudes and our motivation. Submitting to God in any area of our lives, requires our own personal, honest conversations with Him where we're able to unabashedly admit our feelings, frustrations, disagreements with Him but keep talking until we DO agree.

Trust and Have Faith in His Plan!

It's OK to wrestle a little with God. He doesn't expect us to be perfect because He knows we AREN'T and CAN'T be on this side of Heaven and in this life! Don't be afraid to talk to Him and express all of your fears and worries and questions and concerns about those specific areas that you need to submit to Him. Genesis 32:24-28, "Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25) Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26) And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" 27) So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." 28) And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." Once you submit and surrender, it's such a beautiful thing! Giving up control, submitting and surrendering will bring forth good fruits through His discipline of our carnal ways....and what we plan for ourselves. Hebrews 12:10-11, "For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11) Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

When God has His way in a person's life, there's often some kind of a sudden change in direction. Sometimes, some things will remain the same, but there will be a new outlook, maybe a new perspective is given and that changed person continues in their same environment but everything seems to have a different reason, a different purpose and a different focus of life. I've found myself in that situation before. Faces might be the same, our surroundings might be the same, but all of this is seen in a totally different way. This happened in our text to Saul, who was then renamed, "Paul" after his conversion. God uses, and will continue to use, many different ways to gain our attention. Whatever it takes! He will leave His flock of 99 sheep to go after the one lost one who went off course. He might not use a blinding light or a voice out of the blue like He used to get Saul's attention, but rest assured, God WILL get your attention. He knows just the way to do it for each of us! Each person has to be approached differently and God knows exactly what that approach must be to get our attention directed upon Him! Doing what God wants is all He asks of us. Let's again look over Acts 9:6-9, "So he, trembling and astonished, said, '"Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 7) And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8) Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9) And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank." Saul asked what it was that Jesus wanted of him and then went when Jesus answered. He obeyed. Maybe he went without full understanding. Maybe he went filled with confusion and maybe a little fear. After all, here came a voice from seemingly out of nowhere claiming to be the very person he hated the most. The important thing isn't WHY he went, but simply, that he went! That he trusted and was obedient. It’s also important to note here that Jesus revealed what He wanted Saul to do a little at a time, step by step. Often what God wants us to do is usually revealed to us a little at a time. As humans, I believe that's about all we could handle at any given time! Like Saul, we must take only one step at a time doing what God wants and asks of us because that’s all we know and that's all we need to know at the time. Some people might like to speed things up and even try to get ahead of God's plan but God’s ways are different that our own. He see’s the big picture, while we tend to focus on one section at a time.

God's Sudden Change of Plans!

God not only allows disruptions into our lives to remind us that we are not great, but rather small and needy, but He will interrupt our plans and change them up so we can get back on course. It shows us we aren't in control. It shows us we aren't really as great as we think we are so to whatever degree we become too big for our britches, our loving, heavenly Father shows up right in the nick of time with a reminder. Knock knock! Anybody home? I'm sure you can probably think of many of these reminders in your own life. He has done this throughout the Bible and church history. This was the simple, basic point at the tower scene of Babel. The boys got a little too big for their britches, with, what began as a small idea, soon turned into a scheme to reach as high as heaven. Genesis 11:4, "And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." You see, someone with a God-centered perspective on life is always looking to God first when his plans don't go according to his expectations. They're the one's who hold their plans very loosely because they know the high King of heaven may want to assert Himself and change their plans.

If God does assert Himself into the plans of His creation, the God-centered person fully understands and can then humbly seek to perceive what the Father is up to. James was making this point when he gave us those humble, yet very helpful words, "If the Lord wills." This is what is said in James 4:15-16, "Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." 16) But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." God looked down on our selfish ambition, our self-made plans, and knew the most loving thing He could possibly do for us was to disrupt our plans. Swoop in and change our plans without notice! Have you ever had your plans completely disrupted, side-lined and changed? Of course you have! All of us have. After plan after plan after plan had been changed by God in my own life, I've learned to surrender, stop making so many plans without seeking Him first, made them "loosely" thereafter with knowing that He could, and would, at any moment change them if He wanted to and there was nothing I could do about it! Surrender! It's so much easier than the battle! So, when God does speak to us and we hear God clearly, there's ALWAYS some sort of change that takes place. He suddenly changes your plans for His purpose and His will. But there will ALWAYS be some sort of change. Sometimes there's a drastic, complete change in everything about us; sometimes it's subtle, yet noticeable; sometimes there's a change of direction and people see something is different but can't quite figure out what, and they watch and listen trying to discover what that difference is. And the other times, sometimes, things remain pretty much the same, except a there's that new "outlook" on life and your purpose in life has changed. In other words, the change has occurred within you. Your outlook on life, your purpose for life, it's all different now.

God is weaving the details of your life into something beautiful, with Jesus at the center, even as we speak. You may not make sense of it now of all the unexpected and discouraging circumstances you’re experiencing. I'm going through several of those discouraging and unexpected situations myself, right now. But just like me, you too, can be assured that sometimes the best things come through a change of plans. The course might be a little bumpier and you might hit every pothole, but it's all going to be OK. Sometimes a change of plans actually can be quite refreshing! Our world as we know it is drastically changing. It's changing because we are changed. It's changing because we as followers of Christ live by new rules. It's changing because God’s kingdom is finding a home in hearts and minds. As long as Jesus is finding hearts and willing spirits to call home, there is hope! It's changing because we follow the one who said, "Love your enemies.'" There's a darkness abounding all around you and me. It's swallowing up many souls, trapping them in a pit, stealing their hope. There doesn't seem to be any "good news" coming out of the media anywhere! We, as Christians, must BE the good news! We must BE the HOPE! We must BE changed.....What in your life says you have been changed?

If you are reading this to the end, then you were brought to this by no accident! If you are not a believer, this is your moment! It's not too late! He will meet you wherever you are, whoever you are and save you from whatever you did! He is waiting to adopt you and you can kneel down, right where you are, call out to Him and be saved! Salvation is not through works....nothing you can DO will save you. It's what you believe, deep in your heart, that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, repent of those sins, and believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Jesus is God in the Flesh, sent to pay our sin debt in full on the Cross of Salvation. Believe that Jesus died on the Cross, shed His blood for our sins, buried and arose three days later! Believe!!! Trust!!! Seek and you shall find! If you want to read about Salvation, here is a short article I did called, "Simple Salvation" (here) and it will lead you where you need to go!

If God suddenly changes your plans, get ready for all that He has to offer! Remember, be assured that sometimes the best things come through a change of plans.


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