Sermon: Plans

          One of the interesting things we find in the Bible is that people – faithful, everyday people who believe in God – were pretty normal people.  Their conversations with God included thanks and praise, prayers and worries, but like today, also included a bit of kvetching because things weren't exactly as promised by God.  As you've heard me say often, God's time is perfect – we still have to work on practicing patience and trust.

          Abrahm in this instance has done his best.  He's achieved his military successes and his financial successes.  But he and Sarai are running out of human time for a baby to be born to fulfill the promise that God made to Abrahm.  And his concerns are taken to God.  God tells him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."  Well, Abrahm appreciates the words, but he wants something a little more – he'd like a timeline.

          God reassures Abrahm saying, "no one but your very own issue shall be your heir."  But before Abrahm can bring up his age and Sarai's age again, God takes him outside, and says, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them."  Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be."  And Abrahm trusts God's word, not realizing at this point that it will be 13 years before Sarai gives birth to Isaac, with yet another step in which Abrahm fathered Ishmael with Hagar, trying to fulfill God's word.

          It's often that as humans, we establish "Plan B", just in case what we think God has plans for our lives isn't going to happen the way we thought.  And Plan B may be something good – it may just be taking up time until Plan A takes place, or maybe it should have been changed from Plan B to Plan A to begin with.

          It is so easy for us to think we have to limit our expectations. Not to hope too high.  Not to dream dreams. To live as people would say "in the real world". But that was not God's plan for Abrahm, and that is not God's plan for us.

          Let's look at these in a bit more modern activities.  Back in the 1930's there was once a student called George Danzig.  Being a typical student, he was late for his lecture.  The math professor had written two problems on the blackboard.  Danzig thought they were the homework assignment. It was the most difficult homework assignment he'd ever encountered. Night after night he tried solving the two problems.  It took him nearly a week to finally figure them out.  He finally turned in his assignment and thought he’d get a bad grade because it took so long.

          A few weeks later, George heard a pounding on his door early in the morning. He was surprised to see his mathematics professor standing there. His professor said, “George, you solved the problems.” George said, “Well yeah - that was our homework.” The professor said, “That wasn’t your homework. Those were two of the most famous insolvable problems in mathematics. The world's leading mathematicians have been trying for years to solve the two problems you solved in a few days.”

          George Danzig, who later became a professor at Stanford University, said, “If someone had told me that they were two famous unsolved problems, I probably wouldn’t have even tried to solve them.” (Contributed by Mark Batterson)

          The thing is, God has plans for each and every one of us.  Now, because we tend to be fairly industrious people, we look for the "Plan A" and if that doesn't happen, we work on other things.  The importance is being aware and being prepared to follow Plan A when God says the time is right. 

          Bill Gates may have made many people's lives easier through the software he developed.  However, his greatest achievements through his charitable trust, seeking to cure malaria and change the world, have only become possible after first spending many years of slogging at Microsoft.

          The importance here is being aware when God is moving in your life, and being prepared to follow the plans He has.  And at the same time, keeping at least one of your ideas and plans to be fairly practical.

          Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are out camping.  In the middle of the night, Holmes wakes Watson up and says "What do you see", “I see millions of stars.” “What does that tell you?” asked Holmes.  Watson ponders for a minute. “Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Timewise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it’s evident the Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What do the stars tell you, Holmes?” "Elementary my dear Watson - As we look up at those stars it tells me ... Someone has stolen our tent.”

          Sometimes we can be so stuck in one way of thinking, we need be given a new perspective. Abrahm is inside his tent, thinking about walls, God has to take him outside to give him a new perspective. God has to take him outside. "you see these stars - count them" " one, two three...." "Look towards the heavens and count the stars if you are able - so shall your descendants be."

          Even though we have a small church, God has plans for us – even when we didn't have the plans we might have personally had.  Before we say no about the growth of our church, we each need to move ourselves out of the way of our own plans.  We may not know what's going to happen, but I'd ask each of you to pause and listen – is God enacting Plan A in His time?  Are you ready to follow through with that?  And of course, likewise, is Plan A not yet time?  And are you ready to enact Plan B until then?