God's Plan

Read Genesis 48

How many times do we talk about God’s plan?

We acknowledge it.  Sometimes we accept it.  We are trying to embrace it.

Sometimes our own understanding does a number on us and we resist God’s plan.

God’s plan will prevail, but will we get in step with it.

Articulating God’s plan is easy in the big concept arena, but perhaps more difficult in the details.

We know that it is God’s plan for us to spend eternity with him.

We know that God has good plans for our lives.

We know that we are to be known as followers of Jesus by our love.

We know that we are to profess Jesus as Lord.

We know that we are to take the gospel to the world, or at least our part.

We know that if we want to be great, we must be the servant of all.

We know that we are to be generous.

We know that we are to be a blessing to others.

We know to practice humility.

We know that we are to be bold as we approach the throne of grace.

We know that God wants us to do things his way and for his way not to be a burden.

We know that he wants us to draw near to him.

We know that we are to forgive others.

We know that we are to receive God’s forgiveness with confidence. We are to live as forgiven people.

It’s hard to forgive and forget, but God forgives and forgets our sin.  We know that we should work towards that.

We know that we are to be wise.

We know that we are to make the most of every opportunity.

We know that we are to have purpose in our lives.

We know that we are not to be anxious or worry.

We know that we are to be grateful people.  We are to be a thankful people.

We know that we are to tithe.

We know that our giving must not be something that feels like we are under duress.

We know that the Lord loves a cheerful giver.

We know that we are to make joyful sounds to the Lord.

We know that we are to consider our trials and hardships as pure joy because if we keep the faith, we come out better for it.

We know that there is a crown of righteousness waiting for us in the life to come.

We know that to be away from the body is to be with the Lord.

We know that Jesus has a place already prepared for us.

We know that we are to take the gifts and talents entrusted to us and put them to work to produce a good return for our Master.

We know that we are to greet other believers in a special way and should include some blessings in our greetings with each other.

We know that we are to trust in the Lord with all of our heart.

We know that we are to seek justice but love mercy.

We know that God desires mercy more than sacrifice.

We know that love fulfills the law, and that raised the bar.

We know the answer to the question, who is my neighbor, is to be a neighbor.

We know that we are to keep the Sabbath and we know the Lord of the Sabbath.

We know that we may do good on the Sabbath.

We know that the Sabbath was made for us and not the other way around.

We know not to forsake the gathering together for worship.

We know that the word of God is living and active.

We know that whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them.

We know that perfect loves casts out fear.

We know that anyone who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

We know that sometimes the very best thing for us is to be still and just be in the presence of God.

We know that God will finish the good work that he began in us.

We know that we can have no other gods.  Nothing should come close.

We know to seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness before all things.

We know that God will give us things that the pagans have made into their gods.

We know that where our treasure is, that’s where our heart is as well.

We know we are supposed to love our enemies and pray for them.  That one is sometimes a tough one.

We know that we are not to judge—condemning judgment—others.

We know that we should not return evil for evil but we respond with good.

We know that God’s word will judge the thoughts and attitudes of our lives. They cut to the heart of the matter.

We know that our entire lives are to be a living sacrifice to God and that our lives should be our reasonable acts of worship and service.

We know that not all the seeds that we scatter will land good soil.

We know we are to make disciples, baptize, and teach.

We know that we are to honor our parents.

We know that coveting what others have just messes up everything.

We know that we are keep on praying.  Just because you say amen doesn’t mean you can’t say hello again a few minutes later.

We know that even though we are burdened, Christ will give us rest.

We know that we are to take the yoke of our Master and learn from him.

We know that tomorrow is not promised.

We know we have a promise of eternal life with God.

We know not to end the day angry.

We know quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

We know to run the good race, fight the good fight, and to keep the faith.

We know that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

We know what Jesus said eternal life was—that we know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent.

We know that in our moment of belief in Jesus we have passed from death to life.

We know that we are part of a body of believers and that each part is no more or less important than the others. We all have our parts and roles to play.

We know that for us, God takes everything that happens to us and uses it for good as we believe in him and have been called according to his purpose.

For all of these broadminded and conceptual things that we know, for all of the specific tasks and examples, I have left out twice as many, surely more.

These are just the ones that came to mind when I was walking into my office.  Well, there was that one day, that it was just Bob Seger and me singing Against the Wind, but mostly these are just the ones that come readily to mind.

But do we know what God wants us to do on Tuesday at 10 am?

What about the following Wednesday at 7:30 am? That one’s too easy, you need to be praying because we are going to have students gathered at flagpoles to pray.  Join them from wherever you are.

Do we know if we really are supposed to get up 30 minutes early each day for prayer and devotion? I’m really not getting enough sleep as it is.

Do we know what God wants us to put on our grocery list? Stuff for tacos is always a good choice, but is it time to do that Keto thing or not?

Do we know if God wants us to buy that new gun or fishing boat or extra bag of deer corn or…  Of course, he does. That one was too easy.

Do we know if we should sign up for three more school or sports commitments this week?

Do we know if we should buy the Blue and Gold fundraiser or the Roadhouse Rolls?

Does that kid who is just a total mess need a hug or a headlock, or both?

Do we know if we should check our Facebook during that song we don’t like or wait until the sermon?

Just how do we do the details of our lives as laid out by God’s plan?

Jacob—Israel—was near death.  Joseph brought his two sons to see him. Manasseh was the older and Ephraim the younger.  They were likely in their twenties.

Jacob gave them the same blessing but his right hand should have been on Manasseh.  That’s the way that Jacob set them before his father.

But Jacob crossed his hands giving preference to Ephraim.  Joseph must have thought that his father couldn’t tell them apart and it upset him a little, but Israel said, no, this is how it is supposed to be.

Remember that Jacob had deceived his own father, Isaac, to get the older son’s blessing.  His mother helped but God had revealed to her that the younger would be the greater.

God’s plan made Jacob the senior in the relationship.  That went over well with his brother, except for the part where Esau wanted to kill Jacob.

Jacob went east and found the woman of his dreams and worked 14 years to get her.  He picked up another wife and a couple of pseudo-wives along the way.

He did come home and he and his brother reconciled, but it was through Jacob’s line that most of the biggest part of the story of God’s Chosen People would be told.

Back to Egypt…

Somehow, Jacob knew who would be the greater. Jacob talked with God as we have noted along the way. He admitted that he had a tough life and sometimes made some mistakes, but somehow God must have told him that this part of the blessing was a part of God’s plan.

We don’t see Ephraim doing greater things later on.  In fact, we see them doing more sinful things.  Ephraim would not only be the name of the tribe Ephraim; it would sometimes reflect the entire Northern Kingdom after Solomon.

What was Ephraim’s greatness? Perhaps it was to show our human frailty.

How would you like God to say that was your mission for today?  Ouch!

But what if that is exactly what we are to do?  It’s not so much that you go do bad stuff or stupid things but that you are to reveal the love of your Heavenly Father in how he welcomed you home from each transgression.

Put that down for your ten o’clock appointment tomorrow!

When we follow Jesus, we are all headed the same way but sometimes God puts us on different paths. What do I mean?

It’s football season, well maybe not in Stillwater.  I don’t know if the Cowboys got the memo, but we will go with a football example.

Football is still a game of X’s and O’s.  You draw them up on the chalkboard which is now a whiteboard and then start drawing arrows.

This guy blocks this guy.  This guy pulls down the line and tries to influence a linebacker. This guy takes the handoff and runs to the number 3 hole.

That’s how it looks on the board.  That’s seldom how it plays out on the field.

Some people are wired to go from point A to point B and block the guy who is standing there whether he is still there or not.

Some people need the rote list of thou shall and thou shalt nots.

Some people see the mission and the intent.  There is nobody in the place where I am supposed to block somebody, so I will go find somebody else.  The runner is supposed to go to my left, so I will push somebody else to my right. 

Maybe I will knock him flat on his back and go block somebody else.

The play is supposed to go through the number three hole but it’s a little crowded.  It might be time for some broken field running.

My favorite illustration of broken-field running is Barry Sanders.  Barry was at OSU a few years after I graduated, but while I was stationed in Iowa training Marine Reservists, a friend was the MOI at Iowa State.

His wife was pregnant and so he had her ticket for me to go to the game.  It was a cold day. It was a close game.  OSU had the ball on their own 20.  Barry was set to the left of the quarterback.  He caught a quick pitch with a defender directly in front of him.

There was a step and a side step and something else and the next thing you knew, Barry was behind the defender with 80 yards of open field.  Barry wasn’t that fast. He was quick and elusive and changed directions 4 times in 3 seconds.

You can’t draw that on anyone’s whiteboard, but Barry knew that he got the ball to get the Cowboys closer to the end zone. He got all the way there on that one.

I’ve seen Barry run 80 yards for a 20-yard gain, but he moved the ball. He understood the intent.

I saw Joe Washington do a bunch of that to my Cowboys too, but I’m going with the Barry Sanders example today.

Sometimes, we get the big picture but don’t know exactly how the details will fall into place day to day.

And that’s just fine.

Sometimes knowing the big picture is all that we need.  God gave us a sound mind.  He gave us the mind of Christ.  If our daily tasks involve leading people to do great things, then lead on.

If it involves revealing vulnerability in ourselves, then start revealing the love of God the Father that we know in Christ Jesus. Share with others how God welcomed you home from your trespasses.

Our human nature wants a text or an email from God with todays to do list. We would probably like to be able that list to take off what we don’t want to do. That’s probably not the way God will communicate, but check your inbox just in case.

Your efforts to seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness will go a long way to discerning the details of the day.

Your efforts to draw near to God will open your eyes to the opportunities of the occasion.

Your inclination to work at everything as if you are working for God and not for men will reveal the relevant steps in God’s plan in the moment.

James taught us not to get married to our own plan.  Planning is fine. In fact, planning is an excellent practice in sharpening our mind, so long as we don’t get anchored to our plan.

When we see God—not our own understanding—leading us somewhere else, we latch on to that direction with our full enthusiasm—as much as we were excited about our own plans.

Do you remember learning Proverbs 16:3?

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

    and he will establish your plans.

If you are in tune with God and do your best to tune in to what he has already given us, you will have eyes to see the plan of the day for us. You will know God’s plan for us for this day.

We get a whole bunch of liberty in Christ Jesus as we attempt to please God.  Not everything that we can do is profitable, but we have some room for some broken field running.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

    and he will establish your plans.

When we can say, it’s all for you Lord, the plan of the day usually just falls into place. It unfolds before our very eyes.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

    and he will establish your plans.

Amen.