“No one is able to plan his own course.”
God
established a covenant with Abram; however, God did not establish a timetable with
Abram for the receipt of the blessing, the beginning of Abram’s lineage, the
first-born heir, the start of a nation born from God’s promise.1
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid,
Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
But Abram said, “Lord GOD,
what will You give me, seeing that I go childless, and the heir of my house is
Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said,
“Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
And
behold, the word of the LORD came to him,
saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own
body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now
toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said
to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
And he
believed in the LORD, and He accounted it
to him for righteousness.
Then He
said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought
you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”2
It had been ten years since Abram came to the land of
Canaan3 after obeying God’s command to leave his country and family.
God promised to make him a great nation,4 and to make his
descendants as numerous “as the dust of the earth,5 yet “Sarai,
Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.”6 During this time, God
continued to bless Abram: He compounded his wealth in spite of a famine in the
land to which he was called;7 He gave him the land of Canaan;8
He rescued his nephew, Lot, and all of his possessions.9 God had a
plan, a timetable of events for Abram to walk through, and God’s sovereign
power over his destiny was evident in His prophesy of the future captivity of
Abram’s descendants: “Then He said to
Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that
is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will serve them four hundred
years.’ ”10 Why then did Abram take matters into his hands for the
purpose of carrying out God’s will based on his expectations of the reward and
blessing due to him?
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And
she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram,
“See now, the LORD has restrained me from
bearing children. Please, go in to my
maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of
Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave
her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the
land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw
that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.11
During your walk in faith, you will be tempted to act
outside of God’s will. Temptations does
not come from God, for God does not tempt us,12 but rather, He gives
us the strength to endure temptation that is presented to us and a means of
escape from it.13 Satan tempts us during our moments of weakness,
not when we are consumed with God, but when we are downtrodden, losing hope,
fearful that God has forgotten His end of the promise. In his conniving,
cunning, deceitful ways, Satan may use a person close to you to dissuade you
from your original calling. Eve offered the forbidden fruit to Adam, and Sarai
provoked Abram to bear a child with her maid, Hagar:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she
took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.14
So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall
obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.15
Satan
catches us off guard; we are drawn to please the one we love, and we succumb to
the step that leads us out of God’s perfect will.
Does your deviation from your walk
in faith with God change God’s plan? God is omniscient—all knowing. He does not
react to your deviant behavior by resetting the future course of events. God is
testing your faith and uses your deviation from His perfect will as a lesson to
teach you with consequences, to get your attention, and to direct you back to
His perfect will. Each time you deviate and come back, He deepens your
understanding, sharpens your discernment, broadens your wisdom, and strengthens
your faith in His sovereign power to direct your life on the narrow path that
few will follow.16 Adam accepted that which was forbidden, “and he
ate.”17 Abram gave into Sarai’s concern over her barrenness, “and
Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.”18 Sin was conceived, and a nation
was born, and both nations will be with us until the end of this age.
What is the most profound lesson
from the examples of Adam and Abram’s deviation from their walk with God? When
you are at a crossroad, a place where you have a choice to make that could
change the direction of your travel, do you haphazardly, without forethought deviate
from your original plan—the calling that set you on a journey? Adam and Abram forgot to look at their road
map, God’s prophetic word regarding their future,19 and furthermore,
when they were about to change course, they did not ask God.
Think back to times when you found yourself on a different
route than the one on which God had originally placed you. At a crossroad, you
made a choice. Did you ask God what His choice was? Which route did He want you
to take? When we do not ask, we are not sure that we will receive. Jesus, when
instructing His disciples to love one another, said to them, “You did not
choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My
name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one
another.”20 God gives you commands and He expects you to obey. He
does not leave you helpless in the process. He chose you, and He will give you
all that you need to follow Him:
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into
various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But
let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking
nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him
ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven
and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive
anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.21
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest
he fall. No temptation has overtaken
you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow
you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also
make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.22
For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He
is able to aid those who are tempted.23
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize
with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let
us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need.24
Do not consider God available to you only as an
afterthought. He chose you. You are commanded to ask of Him. Do not ask out of
shame or with meekness; for this is how he instructs us: “Let us therefore come
boldly,” and “Let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without
reproach.” We are fools if we do not seek His wisdom. King Solomon was no fool:
At Gibeon the LORD
appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 25
And Solomon said, “Therefore give to your servant an
understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and
evil.26
And God said, “Behold, I have done according to your
words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart.”27
King
Solomon provides us with God’s Word regarding wisdom—seeking and applying
it—and responding to God’s discipline in numerous proverbs that he penned:
A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.28
Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.29
My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD
gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
He guards the path of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.30
Trust in the LORD
with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.31
When
you are at the crossroads of a choice, do not be wise in your own eyes; seek
God’s wisdom by asking Him, and He will be ready to give truly all that you
need to take the route that remains in His perfect will.
I
know, LORD, that a person’s life is not
his own. No one is able to plan is own
course. So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.32
—Jeremiah the
prophet
Praise to Our Father for the
words He has given me. ~Jeff Cambridge
Written July 12, 2004, Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2016
Stellar Rhema Ministry, Jeff Cambridge
References:
1. Galatians 4:28
2. Genesis 15:1-7
3. Galatians 16:3
4. Genesis 12:2
5. Genesis 13:16
6. Genesis 16:1
7. Genesis 12:10, 13:2
8. Genesis 13:15
9. Genesis 14:14-16
10. Genesis 15:13
11. Genesis 16:1-4
12. James 1:13
13. 1 Corinthians 10:13
14. Genesis 3:6
15. Genesis 16:2
16. Matthew 7:14
17. Genesis 3:6
18. Genesis 16:2
19. Genesis 2:16-17, 15:4-5
20. John 15:16-17 italics added
21. James 1:2-8 italics added
22. 1 Corinthians 10:12,13 italics added
23. Hebrews 2:18
24. Hebrews 4:15-16 italics added
25. 1 Kings 3:5
26. 1 Kings 3:9
27. 1 Kings 3:12
28. Proverbs 1:5-7
29. Proverbs 1:23
30. Proverbs 2:1-9
31. Proverbs 3:5-7 italics added
32. Jeremiah 10:23-24
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