Make plans with God, not without him

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

I first drafted my response to this at the beginning of March, before the coronavirus response changed what we do and how we feel about it. As I'm writing now (March 23rd) I'm tempted to revise it to make connections between what's happening now and what Isaiah wrote about here. But I think God's word is more timeless than that. So my answers to this question and the next are from "then", and I'll pick up the "now" under what I'll do differently.

God's people may try to say and do all the right things, based on human rules about religious worship and law, while keeping their hearts and true intentions from God. People like this make plans and appear to be building power and alliances successfully. However, God describes them as "obstinate children". For them, God's prophecies and warnings are "nothing but words sealed in a scroll", so it will be a surprise when shame and ruin come to them. In fact, they actively encourage prophets to give them good news instead of confronting them with the truth and the person of God.

However, I love the way God promises grace when people cry to him for help, which will include unmistakable guidance on ways to live, provision of good conditions to grow food, healing from brokenness and freedom from the oppression of enemies. There's an astonishing Clockwork Orange-style reference to God thrashing his "punishing club... to the music of timbrels and harps..." (chapter 30 verse 32) Ouch.

There are serious warnings to people not to rely on their own strength or that of strong-looking foreign allies, and it seems clear that many will suffer. However, I love that God still promises compassion for all (chapter 30 verse 18). Although many will not understand it until facing the consequences of rebellion, God is leaving a written witness (verse 8) of his promises and expecting a time when people who did not recognise him will start to trust in him, and healing awaits them.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God does not muck about. He knows that we might ignore or dismiss words but will ultimately have to recognise God’s actions. So God acts to grab people’s attention, but would much rather that we pay attention to his guidance and rely on him, consult and plan with him rather than get lost in other plans and bound up in alliances which result in ruin.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

This was my "2 weeks ago" answer. Can you tell?!

I have an ongoing struggle with planning. It’s not that I can’t get lots of things done, it’s more that as soon as I commit too much to to-do lists, they seem to stop being helpful. Is God grabbing my attention to rely on him more and myself (and fancy time management techniques) a lot less? For the next two weeks, I will pray before writing down my stuff to do and see what difference that makes. Will it change what I commit to, or how I credit God?

Fast forward to today (or 11pm Monday, to be more accurate)...

I have to admit that it feels different to be under stress like we are now, see God's words about judgement and wonder about the spiritual aspects of suffering in the world. What did we do wrong? What should we do?

If you want to get ahead with our Bible plan, you might want to peek at Job, the next book in our Old Testament series. This covers a lot about how people react when there is suffering we find hard to explain.

There's a message in there which I think is echoed here - we are not the authority on this. We are not meant to be. Trusting God and accepting his authority are essentials for us, all the time, and perhaps we realise that most when we feel the need to do this. When we're all told to stay indoors for fear of death, that's a pretty powerful cue to cry to God for help. We should.

So I think God was grabbing my attention two weeks ago, and not because he wanted to tweak how I handle to-do lists. It turns out we all have something new to do. In my case, that involves home schooling our son, while fitting in working from home and helping the church to share well online. God has a purpose in all of this, I think - when we consult and rely on him, he can use us to do incredible things at a difficult time, like being a good neighbour and looking out for vulnerable people when we are all under stress.

I've been praying more, and I still need to, even more. I want to look back on this time as one where we have stories of seeing God at work. We'll know when this happens because we'll know how we prayed and see how God answers. 

Who am I going to share this with?

In the last two weeks I have told more people about praying for them, and offering to pray with them, than normal. It's something I need to do even more when reaching out to contact friends and family, so I'll share my hope and faith that God loves us and answers prayers with them.