I think you’ll agree with me that in most things in life we have options – for example, right and wrong, is it this way or that way? We choose. There are certain ways we can go about things to achieve the goals that we want to achieve. Again we decide.
I’m sure there are dreams and things we want out of life. If we have them I believe we will have made plans, especially how we are going to see them fulfilled.
Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place.
Proverbs 16:3 The Message
For followers of Jesus, it is okay to have plans, but it is not okay to go about them without first seeking God himself.
For people who don’t follow Jesus, this might seem crazy. Surely if you know what you want and you’ve made plans on how to get there then start proceeding.
Psalm 1 in the Bible tells us about going this way or that way about how to live life and enjoy it. That does not mean to say that followers of Jesus don’t have dreams, hopes, desires in their lives or their families lives. What it does mean is that we need to bring all of those things to God.
You see followers of Jesus must believe that God has a greater plan for their lives and it may well involve our dreams, desires etc but at the end of the day we must be prepared to surrender those and go God’s way.
What’s so wrong with what I want? In principle nothing, if you take the viewpoint that we can see the future of how your plans are going to turn out. You can go it alone or be cooperative in your plans, in other words committing them to the help of someone else.
So let us look at the word commit as we end. The meaning of the Hebrew word for commit is to ‘roll towards’. There are two ways to go through life. One is to decide that we are perfectly capable of running our own lives without God. We make plans independently of God to please ourselves, as those did in Noah’s time. Remember, no one believed Noah and for 120 years they kept on doing their own thing doing it their way. There was no sign of rain so they thought that Noah was crazy.
Or there is Noah’s way. Noah committed himself to God. In fact, every step of his 120-year journey was commitment as our verse says “Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place”.
Noah knew God had good plans for his life and God does for you too. Read Jeremiah 29:11. Cooperate with God as Noah did, being willing to give up everything that clashes with His purpose for you. In the end, it will be worth it. Remember when the rain came Noah stepped into the Ark – not so crazy after all!
So please make your plans and have your dreams. Just ensure at the start of each day you have committed your plans to Him. No more this way or that way, but God’s way.
Stay safe and blessed.