Rushing God's Plan

I believe that God has a plan for each of us. Not the 'I am puppet dangling from strings' kind of plan, but the kind where God has a vision and destination in mind for each of us. Afterall, we have work to do. The problem is that God rarely reveals all of that plan at one time. I liken it to walking in a dark room with a flashlight, we can only see to the end of the beam and we must take steps of faith before of the plan is revealed to us. If you are like me, this is incredibly frustrating! Why can't God just tell us everything?! I think that it is probably because we would definitely not go through with it if we were shown the end!

Our response is usually to rush God along and take over the job of leading for ourselves. We can do it as well as Jesus, right? Unfortunately, the answer is no we can't. There are two stories that come to mind (I recently started over reading the Bible from Genesis, forward) where heroes of the Bible did this very thing. Sarai frustrated that she had not yet born a son, asked Abraham to make a baby with her handmaiden Hagar! (Wait, that sounds scandalous, is that in the Bible? Yes, right there in Genesis chapter 16). This causes all sorts of problems later on. We see almost the same story with Rachel and Jacob and Leah and Jacob (yes he had 2 wives then later added his wive's handmaidens as concubines...I could not make this up! Check Genesis chapter 30 and 31). Again, this rushing God's plan later causes problems because of the enmity between members of the household. Sarai was tired of waiting on God and so forced a difficult situation.  Rachel was tired of waiting on God and so forced a difficult situation. God has a way of telling us to be patient and trust that God's got a plan for us. We may not see it all just yet, but its there. It is very difficult to trust and be patient and be obedient!

Where are you rushing God's plan for your life? Are you trying to force a situation just because you are impatient, waiting on God? Let these stories be a cautionary tale next time you feel like you can lead better than God.

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