Whose plans are these anyway?

Self-help books often tell us that we need to plan our career. But I can only think of one friend I know who really ended up doing what he planned to do.  Me?  When I was a kid, my ambition was to be an Autobot.  When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I decided I would be an author, because English composition was my favourite subject.  Centrepoint was my favourite hangout, not because I was a cool Centrepoint kid, but because my Mum would leave me in Times the Bookshop to read and when I was done there, there was MPH across the aisle!  When it occurred to me that there didn't seem to be any Singaporean books being sold in the bookshops, I decided I should be a journalist.  Those people seem to be paid. 

Then I heard that English was important for law too, so I decided I'd be a lawyer.  I was a very quiet boy, so I thought I'd be the type of lawyer who would sit in an office drafting stuff.  Then in my final year I joined an advocacy competition to try to win some money to help with the HDB deposit.  To my great surprise, I turned out to be good at speaking, and won.  I also found corporate law subjects dead boring.  So then I decided I'd be the type of lawyer who goes to court, so I signed up as a prosecutor.  On the first day of work, the big boss asked me where I'd like to be posted.  I said, "anywhere but nothing to do with finance, companies and commercial crime".

Seven years later, I left the Legal Service to join the financial sector.  Surprise!  Drafting stuff on finance and companies, market surveillance, enforcement and compliance.  And you know what?  I love my job.  So the next time you hear - "plan your career!" - well, ask the self-help author if his dream was to become a self-help author.  I seriously doubt it!

In fact, God says something very different about life plans.  In Isaiah 30:1-2, He says:

"Woe to the obstinate children,"
declares the Lord,
"to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;


God says that when we "form an alliance" and rely on the strong things of the world - it may be rich parents, good connections, even our own talent - we are "heaping sin upon sin".  Why?  Because by doing so we "carry out plans that are not His".  Sin is not simply about doing bad things - it's about not doing the best thing.  And when we walk away from God's best plans for us, we cause separation between ourselves and God.  That's sin.

Isaiah 30:15 continues to say:
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
In quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."

God promises that if we simply turn to His plan (i.e. repent) and rest... there is our salvation.  He promises that if we simply trust Him with quiet confidence... there is our strength.  Yet somehow, we don't want it.  We struggle on our own limited strength and understanding.  We fight against His blessing.  We beat against the wind.

Isaiah 30:16-17 says:
You said ,'No, we will flee on horses.'
Therefore you will flee!
You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.'
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
A thousand will flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.

Because we try to run away from our problems with our own strength, God says that our defeat will indeed come.  And the faster we try to run, the faster our problems catch up with us.  Even small problems will seem like big ones, until we run even at the sight of our own shadow! 

That's no way to live, is it?  So what's the answer?  Isaiah 30:18, 21 says:
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore He will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for Him!
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying "This is the way; walk in it."

Are you looking for direction in your life?  Wondering what your life plan should be?  Know that there is one.  A perfect one.  Planned by God, who loves you more than you can imagine.  To walk in His plan, with His gracious whisper in your ears "walk this way, my beloved child" is a joyful journey, full of quiet confidence, and blessed with the fruit of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" Galatians 5:22-23.

Over the weekend, we celebrated the handover of ministry from one of my pastors to his successor.  As I stood there, I thought about all the things I had learned from my pastor.  How to take God utterly seriously.  How to be bold in prayer and action.  How to be hands on and humble in service.  I saw how he was always willing to be posted to different ministries, "kicked around like a football" in his own words, and always joyful to be obedient to God's direction.  I saw the fruit of the ministry that He was handing over.  I saw how he was simply trusting God to direct him in the days ahead to his new ministry.  Now that, is a life being well lived in the centre of God's will.  I want that, and if you've any sense at all, so should you :)

Comments

Kiwi said…
Very true glenn,we live life with 2 pairs of eyes, the human one and the spiritual one. Very often, we only use the human eyes to see the world and plan accordingly. Blessed by your sharing!
19 June 2013 at 06:22
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