The Plan

The first law in the Four Spiritual Laws, a booklet produced as a tool to lead people to Christ, begins with “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” We camp on the first part and ignore the second because we are doers, leaders, movers and shakers. Just give us the idea and we’ll develop and implement it…that’s why God gave us a brain, right?

A plan means you’ve thought through the idea, developed a strategy, considered logistics, finances, staffing, weather, location…all the parts that would make up a whole to allow your plan not only to be implemented, but to be successful.

The generals are planning D Day. They inform their subordinates one evening at dinner that they have a plan for the invasion of Europe. They schedule a meeting for the next day to share the plan. But during the night, the subordinates scatter, frantically make calls, draw up maps, develop strategy, line up vehicles, planes, landing craft, count men to … invade Europe.

How stupid is that?

No…they show up the next day and listen….to the plan… because the General is in command primarily. But even more importantly, they know he has access to far more intelligence, supplies, combined experience and brainpower to cover every angle of this invasion than they do so they go with his plan. They follow his lead. They do what he tells them to do. They are not assigned Omaha Beach and then decide Utah Beach would be a better fit for their men and equipment and just move. You go with the plan knowing that the general has an overview that you do not have, you just do your part to make the whole come together successfully….as does every other plane and landing craft, to produce a coordinated effort with the goal being the defeat of the enemy.

Will they be shot at? You bet. The enemy does not want them to land much less be victorious…that’s a given. But their training will enable them to move forward, advance on the beaches, climb the ropes even when their mind is telling them to run back to the boat. They trust their training. They trust the plan.

The most amazing thing to me about Christianity is that God sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins so we could have a relationship with Him. He relates to us individually, personally, one on one. Knowing us intimately, He knows the best fit not only for us but in relation to His plan for others, for the world. So wouldn’t it stand to reason, that He has a plan…for us? And just like the general wouldn’t gather all his leadership and say, “Ok, men, we’re going to invade Europe, guess how we’re going to do it,” neither does He.

And our General is Almighty God who created heaven and earth. We’re following this General. He has trained us with His word and experiences to get us ready for each assignment. As the enemy has fired at us in the past, we’ve learned through experience that He has advanced with us, we can trust His leadership. He’s equipped us with all we’ve needed in the past to defeat the enemy and He’ll equip us with all we need in the future to defeat the enemy.

The ticket to knowing however, is listening. Listening to the plan, listening to updates.

You’re moving to Washington….GO! You’ve got an entire summer at home….GO! and we blast out of the chute, legal pad, I Phone, I Pad in hand to attack…where to go, who to see, how much to spend. But,

If God has a plan, He knows all that…He worked it out before the orders ever came down the pipe, before the calendar cleared for summer. I just need to access the General. Frequently. Before I leave the house…before I even dress! All during the day…”God direct me to whoever you want me to talk to, wherever You want to plug me in, whoever You want me to befriend, however will fit in Your plan. I don’t want to land in Alexandria when You wanted to use me in Arlington…the need was in Arlington. I don’t want to miss the show because I was so intent on planning my own strategy, I missed a plan that had a worldwide focus.”

At day’s end, I review the day with Him, make corrections, tap into His plan for tomorrow…listen. One day at a time.

Yes God loves me. But He also has a plan…that at day’s end, will make me stand in awe that the God of the entire universe, had a plan for me. And at the end of the age, when we stand around the throne, our eyes will be open to the wonder of it all. There was a plan in place all along and I hit the beach at exactly where I was targeted to hit it and the saint I stand beside, lifting his hands in praise to Jesus is there because I followed the plan and did what I was directed to do.

How amazing is that.