The Best Plans

Day two hundred twelve

I am looking forward to today.  I have the opportunity to go to Church and worship God, to learn more about Him, to feel the Spirit, to visit with friends, and later today to spend sometime with my family. Today has the potential to refill my spiritual well and I need it!  It is with hope and gratitude that I prayed this morning to have the experiences that I need to refill today.  I need it to get through the week!

Judges 7
In James 4:13-15, James councils men against the foolishness of making plans without consideration for the will of God in the matter. All James is saying is that we can make any plans we wish to make, but God always has the final say in any matter. When we learn His plans for the situation, and we make our plans based on His plans, we find out that He had the best plan all along!

God's plans are different (vv 2-7).
When Gideon and his army went into battle, they must have had a plan, but before the battle was joined and the victory was won, they found out that God had the best plan. Gideon planned to march into battle with 32,000 soldiers, but God had a different plan! 

When we make plans for our lives, we usually try to stack the deck in our favor. That is human nature. However, God will usually have a different plan for our life than we do. There are lots of examples of this in the scriptures:

David was just a shepherd, but God had a different plan.

Job was a wealthy man who just wanted to worship his God, love his family and enjoy his wealth, but God had a different plan.

Joseph and Mary were a young couple who wanted to get married and raise a family, but God had a different plan.

Saul of Tarsus just wanted to destroy Christianity, but God had a different plan!

God Declares His Plans (vv 9-14)
Here is Gideon, he has seen his 32,000-man army reduced to just 300 men. He is getting ready to attack a force that is many times larger than his own (verse 12). God is not asking for a leap in the dark, he is asking for a clear step of faith.

The Lord expects us to walk in obedience to His will, but He never asks for a blind leap in the dark. He always asks His children to respond to His plans by taking a clear step of faith.  He has many ways of sharing His plans with us: 

He speaks through His Word (Rom. 10:17). 
He speaks through the Spirit (Acts 13:2; 16:6-8). 
He speaks through other believers (Acts 9:17-18). 
He even speaks through the circumstances of life (Gen. 24:12-16).

Knowing His plan requires prayer, holiness and patience, but be sure, in His time, He will reveal His plan. The surest path to knowing His plan is to practice Rom. 12:1-2.The bottom line is this; God will always direct our feet plainly. He will not leave us in doubt!

God's Plans are Distinct (vv 15-23)
Gideon’s men were to surround the enemy, 300 against thousands! They were to sounds their trumpets, shout for the battle and break a little clay pitcher containing an oil lamp. God said that this would give them the victory, and it did! What a distinct plan! Who else could  come up with a plan like that!

Had Gideon and his men not been willing to follow God’s plan, they would have missed out on the victory. So it is with the plans of God. There are times when the Lord will lead us in directions we never imagined. He can come up with plans for our lives that are very distinct. Yet, when we go His way, we find out that He always has the best plan!