DEAD PEOPLE HAVE A DISTINCT ADVANTAGE WHEN IT COMES TO PLANNING
“As good as dead.” What if God, through one of his prophets, had said this of you? Would you be offended? There was a man in the Bible who was declared to be as good as dead. Who was this old man which earned such a pathetic description? It was Abraham.
“Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead . . .” (Hebrews 11:12 NKJV)
Another question: what happened to him in this state?
“. . . were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:12 NKJV)
WHEN ABRAHAM PLANNED BADLY
In the life of Abraham God teaches us an important lesson about dependence. Abraham did his best work when he was as good as dead, because Jesus was and is strong.
However, before Issac was born, Abraham had made his own plans. He had executed those plans and Abraham had asked God to bless his plans.
And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” (Genesis 17:18 NKJV) And this was the greatest and most prominent mistake of his life with grave consequences that reach down to our day.
HOW DO YOU PLAN?
Now think of this. Is this not the pattern most of us use in our daily lives and in our churches? We make our own plans. We execute those plans. We ask God to bless them. Jesus did things very differently.
HOW DID JESUS PLAN?
They (priests and rabbis) felt sufficient in themselves for all things, and realized no need of a higher wisdom to direct their acts. But the Son of God was surrendered to the Father’s will, and dependent upon His power. So utterly was Christ emptied of self that He made no plans for Himself. He accepted God’s plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So should we depend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His will. {DA 208.2}
It is our strength that seduces us. That last statement was entirely wrong, yet I wrote it with great confidence and I am guessing most read it without the slightest qualm. It is not our strength, but our illusion of strength that entraps us. We believe ourselves to be capable, confident and strong, and we do not seek to know God’s plans, because we feel no need of them, unless of course we are in trouble.
ONE MARKER OF APOSTASY
Notice that the description of Israel during the height of their apostasy.
“. . . the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so.” (Jeremiah 5:31 NKJV)
This is a very uncomfortable marker of unfaithfulness.
Here’s the thing, we ARE as good as dead. It is our natural state. “The heart is deceitful and who can truly know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Self is always asserting itself even in our best moments. We need Jesus every moment, even when all seems smooth and good.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
I will end today not with an admonition but with a few questions. What would it look like for a pastor to seek God’s plans before he or she acts? What would our board meetings or business meetings look like if we were to seek God’s plans before we act? How could that happen?
It is worth the effort to think about these things, because our greatest mistakes can be made when all seems good and sure and stable. But there I go again! Let me restate that. It is worth the effort to think and PRAY about these things, asking God to give us wisdom to know how we might lead our people to seek God’s heart as we plan for the advancement of His work.
pastorcovel 