Somehow the summer is slipping quickly through my fingers. Every year I try desperately to hold on to the long, hot days of summer and yet the calendar continues to change...June becomes July and July becomes August and before long the leaves change color and we are smack dab in October!
I'm getting ahead of myself, though. I guess with all the year round schools it seems July is wearing thinner faster! Plans for the fall are already coming together...school plans, co-ops, sports, activities and such. But today the Lord highlighted a verse that stopped me in my tracks:
"Woe to the obstinate children,' declares the LORD, 'to those who carry out plans that are not Mine' " (Isaiah 30:1)
The Lord goes on to rebuke other sins, as well, but something about the whole idea of making plans really got me. I love to plan, but I'm not always good at following through. So I have learned to not be too big into planning, nor to plan too far ahead. But today as I read this passage, I realized it's not about NOT planning, it's about seeking the Lord for direction and plan HIS way!
Seeking the Lord's plan for my homeschooling this fall, how I will spend my time, what activities I will be involved in, how I will serve...
All to often I will say "yes" to what sounds good and miss out on what was best. I will end up overwhelmed and feeling stretched in ways the Lord never intended. Then I end up having to follow through with something just to be good to my word or having to back out of something and carrying the guilt of disappointing others. The Lord calls this SIN. Making plans that are not His brings Him no glory and leads us down paths of exhaustion and weariness!
"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." says the Lord. (v. 15)
The Lord's desire is for you and I to do with excellence that which HE calls us to do. We cannot do 1000 things with excellence, but the thing is, God never called us to! Let's repent of our own plans, and sit in quietness and trust HIS plans for us.
Lord, here is my 24 hours of today...do with it as YOU will! Bring Yourself glory through the plans You have for me over the next days, weeks and months.
4 comments:
oh friend! I am right there with you! Thank you for sharing these verses. How many times do I need to hear about people in the OT that don't seek God for direction and not learn from their mistakes???
Isaiah 30:15 has always been a favorite of mine. I built a message around it for a group of ladies once. I want to do only what God asks me to do and not one thing more. Then I want to rest in the knowledge that I am in His will.
Don't you know that any verse starting with "Woe" can only mean we are in trouble...? Thank you for this reminder of OUR plan vs. HIS plan. It's just so difficult to release control and let Him handle it because we always want it "our way"!
love u
I just kept nodding and amen-ing all the way through this post. How true it is! Thank you for sharing your heart today, and obeying God by publishing THIS post. Your wisdom is such a blessing and always makes me stop and dig into His word. Iron sharpening iron. Hugs!
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