God's Plans Vs. My Plans

Genesis 6:19-21 

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

 20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

 21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

As I read this scripture this morning, I couldn’t help but think of God’s direct instructions. “And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee…”

Two of every kind. What an interesting instruction…

Do I have any other planners out there? I’m not referring to the people who see something that they need or want to do and then set out the course to do it. I’m calling out to my friends out there that make plan A, then plan B, and possibly C, D, and E before even starting on A.You see what you want or need to do and then you plan out an action for every mishap that could possibly occur. Tell me I’m not alone in this. 

I can just imagine Noah discussing this with his wife: “Now we need to make sure that we have two of every kind of animal.” 

“Just two?” His wife thoughtfully replies

“Well, that’s what the Lord said to…” Noah tried to continue but his wife interrupts 

“But what if one of them dies, or gets sick? Shouldn’t we take three or four just in case??”

What would’ve happened if they hadn’t obeyed exactly as God had told them? Maybe God knew if they took more than two of every living creature that the Ark would be too heavy. Maybe He knew that it would cause too much of a work load on them to take care of all of those animals. We don’t know why he said “only two” for those animals, but we know He had a plan. 

God directed them to take two of every kind of animal; in all of His knowledge and might, God had a plan, a sure plan that took care of every little detail. And I don’t know about you but I have this habit of following God’s plans with a “what if” attached. I follow His plan but I have my own backup plan just in case His doesn’t work. I have a side option in case His doesn’t fall through like He says it would. 

But God calls us to trust. 

Hebrews 11 is the chapter known for speaking of our Great Examples of Faith, and Noah is mentioned in verse 7: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” 

If you go on a little farther in the chapter, you may notice Abraham’s name mentioned, but nowhere does it mention “by faith, Abraham received TWO sons”. Ishmael wasn’t a part of God’s plan for Abraham’s family. That wasn’t a faith moment for Abraham. That was a moment of choosing his side option because he thought for a moment that God’s plan was failing, that God had missed some important detail. 

When you feel a call of God to go a certain direction, do you abandon all other routes? Do you follow whether you know the end destination or not? Do you follow as long as you have a back-up plan? 

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with ALL YOUR HEART; and lean NOT unto YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING.”

2 Samuel 22:31 “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in Him.” 

I challenge you to follow God’s call without a back-up plan. If He gives you specific directions, follow them, don’t rely on your own understanding of the situation, trust that He knows what He’s doing.