My local church is always looking for ways to reach the young people in our community. Some of the ways we’ve considered have included having a toddler group for teenage mothers, hosting a barbecue for the local youth, opening up our church building as a youth drop-in center, and even helping out with a multi-church mobile youth club bus.
All of these ideas sounded great at the time. We believe, however, that God’s specific answer to our prayers was not to pursue any of them. But why did this happen? God wants us to be involved in reaching people who don’t know Jesus and to be seen actively working in our community, right?
In the Bible, we find many examples of God asking people to do things—or not to do things—that can be confusing based merely on our human perspective. For instance, in Matthew’s gospel a godly young man named Joseph was going to do the honorable thing and divorce his pregnant fiancée secretly, for it appeared she had been involved in an illicit relationship (Matthew 1:19). God stopped him. Then, in the book of Acts, we find Philip moving away from where God seemed to be working to trek down a desert road (Acts 8:26-39). God told him to go there.
Why was it wrong for David to build a house for the ark of the Lord? (2 Samuel 7:1-17). His plan was God-honoring and his motives were pure.
The problem? God had something else in mind—something better. As Isaiah 55:8 says, “ ‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ ” says the LORD. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.’ ” God doesn’t always agree with our logic and reasoning. But as we prayerfully, humbly seek His ways, we can rest in what He deems best!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Acts 21:18-36
More:
Read Proverbs 3:5-6 and consider what it means to trust in God even when things don’t go according to what you had hoped or planned.
Next:
When embarking on a new project, why is it important to pray for God’s counsel? What plans do you need to bring to Him today?
Gary Shultz on November 10, 2015 at 7:13 am
I agree good ideas are not enough. Many times in our attempts to do what we think God would have us do we don’t do what He wanted us to do and some times it’s do nothing, at the time. I had to get a lot of do’s out of my mind and go with the be, who would God have us be? If we have found the “be” to being in God’s presence He can show us the “do” whenever it is time. What is so amazing to me with as full as Christ’s life was he never seemed to be in a rush. The only time I recall He even mentioned it was to Judas. We always seem to be jumping from one program to the next, like what you mentioned, and we never figured what was really doing the needed thing. The course of action to me was as Jesus responded look to the Father and pray. Well, you seem to have captured this all very nicely, we look to Him, its His church, His plan. Thanks
Tom Felten on November 10, 2015 at 9:18 am
Russell, I’ve found the biblical principles you’ve lifted up in this article to be so helpful in my life. Many times, God has moved in unexpected ways, but the end results have brought opportunities and results far greater than I could have asked for or imagined! So thankful that we can rest in His sovereign and loving ways.
russell fralick on November 10, 2015 at 9:36 am
My problem, Tom, so often, is that I think I have covered all the bases, and so “this must be the right thing to do”! I need to remember that He has seen everything, and, as you say, He is often fulfilling a far greater purpose than merely what we could think of! I find it both humbling and liberating, and I need liberal doses of both humility and freedom!
jim spillane on November 10, 2015 at 11:53 am
Tom and Russell – I think that both of you have hit on an important point here. We live in the present, and in the present time only. We don’t have the ability to see the future, to see how our decisions will play out and what effect they will have. We think we “have covered all the bases.” But our Heavenly Father knows the future and because of that, His ways are not our ways, “but the end results have brought opportunities and results far greater” that we might have expected. And we know that His ways are always right for us. “Be not wise in your own eyes” but “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Proverbs 3:7a,5a. Thank you both.