““What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the LORD. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins.”” (Isaiah 30:1, NLT)
John D. Barry loves God very much. He has preached about God, written about God, studied the Bible for years. Many people in his church go to Barry for counseling and a biblical perspective. And yet, John D. Barry said this about himself in Connect the Testaments: “I’m a planner. I love schedules. The trouble is I sometimes make plans without consulting God.” Barry has acknowledged that this failure to “consult God” when making plans is something he consistently debates in his own spiritual life. I believe this is what makes Barry a wise man who speaks for God.
Though John D. Barry can recognize his own weakness in making human plans without godly influence, many Christians do not even acknowledge their own weakness in this area. Even church committees will gather, set up calendars, debate agendas, and organize themselves without thought to the prayer that should occur first! When was the last time you went to a church annual meeting that began with… “Let’s pray before we make any plans!”? Sadly, it just doesn’t happen often enough.
Our scripture for today has something to say about making plans without godly approval. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children” who “make plans that are contrary to mine” says the Lord (Isaiah 30:1). When Isaiah spoke these words, Judah and Israel were considering war plans. They were making military alliances. Because these war plans were not “directed” by God’s Spirit, they were sinful (see Isaiah 30:1c!).
It is so easy to get caught up in your own plans. You look forward in your life and make important decisions. You take out a loan and plan how to pay it back. You date someone and plan for marriage and a family someday. I recently read an article in a magazine that promoted how to plan for retirement, plan for marriage, plan for the future, and more. Not once did the article even mention God! And, get this; it was written by a woman who is an active churchgoer! Why do people even talk about planning without even a thought of God’s input in the planning process!?
In the book of Proverbs, an Old Testament book of wisdom, we read the following: “Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3, NLT). I want you to notice in this verse when plans succeed: ONLY AFTER you “commit your actions to the Lord”! This is opposite the thinking of most people. They make plans and then commit themselves to their plans and hope the Lord will bless those plans. Instead, this verse makes clear that committing yourself and your actions to the Lord must come before your plans will ever succeed. Why is it that people have this backward?
I was sitting with eight other people in a hotel banquet room. Most at the table were talking about their churches and interesting things occurring “back home”. All were there to listen to a famous pastor/evangelist speak about how churches grow. He helped his own church grow from 30 to 3000 members, rebuilt and added to several church buildings, and was responsible for helping plant a number of other churches!
As most of the people at the table spoke, the gentleman next to me was listening intently but remained silent. Two of the people at the table regaled the group on their “Plan for the 21st Century!” It was a money-making campaign slogan in their church that was looking to build a new and bigger building. They spoke for ten minutes about how the various money-making projects were going and how long it would be until they broke ground. One person at the table asked, “How long have you been raising money for the building project?”
They responded, “About five years! But, we hope to have enough money in another five or so!”
The quiet gentleman next to me then said, “How much time have you spent praying about the fund-raising plans and building arrangements?”
One of the church people responded, “We aren’t going to waste time doing that… we have better things to do! I’m the fund-raising coordinator. I should know! Too many churches get all caught up in committee work and never get to the important stuff.” To him, the important stuff was fund-raising and making architectural plans.
What he did not realize (nor did I at the time!), was that the famous pastor/evangelist who was leading the event was the quiet man sitting at our table! While these laypeople planned all their budgets and money-making fund raisers, the pastor/evangelist knew that prayers were more important. The next day, he even told the entire assembly that if they don’t begin with prayer they will only end up with disappointment!
If you think about it, that pastor/evangelist had the perfect words to explain our scripture for today. Any planning by Israel during the days of Isaiah ended in disappointment and failure. Why? They did not develop their plans through the inspiration of the Lord! Human planning can seem so reasonable, so well thought out. But, without God’s direction, all human plans are destined for disappointment and failure!
When Jesus told of his plan to go to Jerusalem for Passover, the disciple Peter thought it a huge mistake. Peter even rebuked Jesus for such foolish plans (Mark 8:32). Jesus had harsh words in response… some of the harshest words ever spoken to Peter in scripture, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mark 8:33). What was Peter’s mistake? Jesus told Peter he was making plans with human reason not godly wisdom, and thus siding with men not God (Mark 8:33b)!
How much time and effort do you devote to finding out God’s will BEFORE making your plans? How might your plans in the past have been better with godly hindsight?
Though John D. Barry can recognize his own weakness in making human plans without godly influence, many Christians do not even acknowledge their own weakness in this area. Even church committees will gather, set up calendars, debate agendas, and organize themselves without thought to the prayer that should occur first! When was the last time you went to a church annual meeting that began with… “Let’s pray before we make any plans!”? Sadly, it just doesn’t happen often enough.
Our scripture for today has something to say about making plans without godly approval. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children” who “make plans that are contrary to mine” says the Lord (Isaiah 30:1). When Isaiah spoke these words, Judah and Israel were considering war plans. They were making military alliances. Because these war plans were not “directed” by God’s Spirit, they were sinful (see Isaiah 30:1c!).
It is so easy to get caught up in your own plans. You look forward in your life and make important decisions. You take out a loan and plan how to pay it back. You date someone and plan for marriage and a family someday. I recently read an article in a magazine that promoted how to plan for retirement, plan for marriage, plan for the future, and more. Not once did the article even mention God! And, get this; it was written by a woman who is an active churchgoer! Why do people even talk about planning without even a thought of God’s input in the planning process!?
In the book of Proverbs, an Old Testament book of wisdom, we read the following: “Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3, NLT). I want you to notice in this verse when plans succeed: ONLY AFTER you “commit your actions to the Lord”! This is opposite the thinking of most people. They make plans and then commit themselves to their plans and hope the Lord will bless those plans. Instead, this verse makes clear that committing yourself and your actions to the Lord must come before your plans will ever succeed. Why is it that people have this backward?
I was sitting with eight other people in a hotel banquet room. Most at the table were talking about their churches and interesting things occurring “back home”. All were there to listen to a famous pastor/evangelist speak about how churches grow. He helped his own church grow from 30 to 3000 members, rebuilt and added to several church buildings, and was responsible for helping plant a number of other churches!
As most of the people at the table spoke, the gentleman next to me was listening intently but remained silent. Two of the people at the table regaled the group on their “Plan for the 21st Century!” It was a money-making campaign slogan in their church that was looking to build a new and bigger building. They spoke for ten minutes about how the various money-making projects were going and how long it would be until they broke ground. One person at the table asked, “How long have you been raising money for the building project?”
They responded, “About five years! But, we hope to have enough money in another five or so!”
The quiet gentleman next to me then said, “How much time have you spent praying about the fund-raising plans and building arrangements?”
One of the church people responded, “We aren’t going to waste time doing that… we have better things to do! I’m the fund-raising coordinator. I should know! Too many churches get all caught up in committee work and never get to the important stuff.” To him, the important stuff was fund-raising and making architectural plans.
What he did not realize (nor did I at the time!), was that the famous pastor/evangelist who was leading the event was the quiet man sitting at our table! While these laypeople planned all their budgets and money-making fund raisers, the pastor/evangelist knew that prayers were more important. The next day, he even told the entire assembly that if they don’t begin with prayer they will only end up with disappointment!
If you think about it, that pastor/evangelist had the perfect words to explain our scripture for today. Any planning by Israel during the days of Isaiah ended in disappointment and failure. Why? They did not develop their plans through the inspiration of the Lord! Human planning can seem so reasonable, so well thought out. But, without God’s direction, all human plans are destined for disappointment and failure!
When Jesus told of his plan to go to Jerusalem for Passover, the disciple Peter thought it a huge mistake. Peter even rebuked Jesus for such foolish plans (Mark 8:32). Jesus had harsh words in response… some of the harshest words ever spoken to Peter in scripture, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mark 8:33). What was Peter’s mistake? Jesus told Peter he was making plans with human reason not godly wisdom, and thus siding with men not God (Mark 8:33b)!
How much time and effort do you devote to finding out God’s will BEFORE making your plans? How might your plans in the past have been better with godly hindsight?