GOD’S PLANS (part-9)

ARE YOU A PLANNER, OR SOMEONE WHO “SHOOTS FROM THE HIP”?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this
or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
(James 4:13)

MEDITATION:
Can we all agree that it’s a good idea to make plans for the future?
Whenever we plan ahead, we can think more clearly, because we
don’t feel the time pressure that hurries us and causes us to make
bad decisions. When we allocate time for planning in advance, we
will feel prepared and are confident that at worst, we may have to
make some slight adjustments along the way.

However, without adequate planning, our snap decisions may not
fully consider all the possible consequences of our choices. There
are some people who prefer to live an unplanned life and ironically,
some of them seem to perform better under pressure.

Whether we are planners or ‘non-planners’, we need to include
God in our decisions. His plans may be different than ours and
if so, we know that His plans are better than ours. Why? Because
He can see the picture, and we can’t.

God’s plans include the length (and brevity) of our earthly life. We
can make all the plans we want to make, but any of them that are
past His timetable for our lifespan, will not be fulfilled. Of course,
it’s equally important for ‘non-planners’ to include God in their
decisions as well.
    Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
    What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little
    while and then vanishes.
    (James 4:14)

When we include God in our plans, we are acknowledging that He is
in control. Admitting that we are dependent on our Heavenly Father
helps us build a closer relationship with our Creator. In addition, we
are expressing our desire to include Him in our lives.

James emphasizes the importance of including God in our decisions.
    “If it is the Lord’s will, we
      will live and do this or that.”
      (James 4:15)
We know how we would like things to be, but we need to realize that
God is the One who determines how things will be.

The following is an example of where God’s plans trumped mine:
    During my career, I was working for a company that hired an
    overbearing, inconsiderate, and unreasonable person to manage
    the group I was working in. The group told me they thought I
    should have been promoted to manager, instead of hiring a new
    person. Naturally I thought it was a bad decision too, but didn’t
    want it to affect my work or my attitude.

    The new manager was arrogant and disrupted meetings with other
    groups in his efforts to show he was in control. I started praying for
    him every morning on the way to work, until one morning it was as
    if the Lord spoke to me and said,
        “How about praying for yourself?”

    Of course, my initial thought was,
        “Why should I do that? He has a problem, not me”
    But I did pray that morning that God would change whatever needed
    to be changed in me. When I arrived at work that morning, I had to
    walk past his office to get to my desk. I have no idea where this came
    from, but when I saw he was in his office, I asked if he wanted to go
    to lunch that day, and he said “Yes”.

    When I got to my desk I wondered how in the world I could have said
    that, and thought about the indigestion I would have that afternoon.
    However, to my surprise it was an enjoyable lunch and we got to know
    each other better. From that day forward our working relationship
    improved. He still had problems working with other groups, but at
    least our interaction with each other was much better.

    In the months that followed, we freely discussed things related
    to faith and trust in God. Through our discussions I discovered
    that he had a need for a friend, and that was what contributed
    to his attitude. It wasn’t what I wanted, but apparently God had
    plans for me to be a friend to him.

    It wasn’t long until I no longer ‘joined in’ whenever others were
    bashing him. My plans were for God to change this man, but His
    plans were to change me. I think He changed us both, so His plans
    worked out much better than mine. It also taught me a good lesson
    about understanding the cause of the attitudes and actions of others;
    to put my likes and dislikes on the back burner and think of others
    in a different way.
        “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?
          Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
          and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the
          first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:
          ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
          (Mathew 22:36-39)

        Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united
        with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing
        in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my
        joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being
        one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition
        or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
        not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests
        of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the  
        same mindset as Christ Jesus.
        (Philippians 2:1-5)

    God gave me a painfully needed wake-up call that even though He had
    called me to teach a Sunday School class at the church, I probably had
    more things than the rest of the class that needed to change, if I was to
    become a little more like Jesus.

    I have been teaching for several decades and hopefully I am gradually
    starting to catch up with everyone else in the class. I do know that He
    is continuing to sanctify me (which includes purging unrighteousness),
    so I know that I still have a lot more that needs changing, and I am
    very appreciative of God’s patience with me.

ACTION:
Questions to consider:
    – Am I guilty of omitting God when making my plans?
    – Have I excluded God from some or many areas of my life?
    – How much do I consider the needs of others, and
       especially when they have a personality that seems
       abrasive to me?
    – Are there people in my life that I need to treat differently
       than how I am treating, or thinking of them now?
    – Do I realize that God made all of us and when I am
       finding faults in others, I am questioning God’s creation?
       Jesus tells us that when we realize our own shortcomings,
       we will look at others differently and be less critical.
           “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your
              brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in
              your own eye? How can you say to your brother,
              ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all
              the time there is a plank in your own eye? You
              hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own
              eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the
              speck from your brother’s eye.
              (Matthew 7:3-5)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for my failure to acknowledge Your
presence in my life at all times. Forgive me for failing to include
You in all my plans. Thank You for everything You have given me,
and help me to start including You more in my life, so I can build
a closer relationship with You and get to know You better. Teach
me how to change the things in my life that will help me become
a little more like the One I am following, Jesus.”

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