In Genesis 15:4 God promises Abraham a son. In Genesis 16, Abraham and his wife Sarah decide to expedite God's plan by using Sarah's maidservant Hagar. Hagar became pregnant with Abraham's son. God would later give Abraham a son (Issac) through Sarah. However, by trying to speed up God's plan discord spread rampantly within their household. Sarah became very jealous of Hagar and her son Ishmael. In Genesis 21, Sarah urges Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, distressing Abraham greatly, as he had to send away his own son.
When God makes us a promise, we must continue to live with integrity and patience. If we try to alter God's timing especially by taking actions outside of his boundaries, destruction will soon follow. Though Sarah and Abraham agreed that it was a good idea for him to sleep with Hagar to give them an heir, that action was outside of God's good and perfect plan. Abraham's family was torn apart and he had to exile his own son. God will fulfill his promises, but we must be obedient to Him. God is smarter than us and sometimes we need a reminder. God is never early, God is never late, God is always right on time.
So how do you know what God's plan is??? At what point do you say, "if it's God's plan, it will happen" versus doing a little extra because you think it's God's plan. I understand this is an open-ended question but I figured I see what your thoughts were :) Prayer for guidance is my best approach.
ReplyDeletePrayer is a good place to start. I heard something recently that really hit home with me about prayer. Prayer is our way of opening communication with God. It helps us be sensitive to the movement of God within our lives instead of chalking up those movements to "coincidence". This also helps us tune in to the leadings of the holy spirit. When God places in our minds things that we should do such as call this person, give to that person, etc. Also, I think God places us in each moment, with a chance to impact eternity and that's where our effort comes into play. Repeatedly in scripture God requires action spurred on by faith to complete his work. Moses had to stretch his staff over the red sea to part it, Joshua had to tell the sun to stand still so they could conquer their enemies before the sun went down, priests had to carry the ark of the covenant into the Jordan River before the waters parted... so God does require our effort for His miracles to be worked in our lives. God's plans won't be thwarted, but the question is whether we want to be a part of his miracle? Just my thoughts, let me know what you think!
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