God had a great plan A. He would make a beautiful garden and Adam and Eve would stay away from the tree and we would all live happily ever after.
Then came plan B: get thrown out of the garden and live by the sweat of your brow and have babies the hard way. He had to post a terrifying angel to guard the garden lest they try to go back to plan A. But plan B had a “HUGH” promise in it. The promise of the coming Jesus. Now all they had to do was get back on track and work hard and walk plan B with God. But No! everyone began to prey on everyone instead of everyone praying to God for everyone. So plan C Noah! But things went bad pretty soon and everyone was going bad again. So plan D: start a separate nation to teach the rest of the world about God. But No! They kept it to themselves and took up a bunch of demon gods. So plan E: have the tribe of Levi specialize in worshiping God and help the others stay in line.
Well, you get the picture. The good news is that God can take my current moment that is bent and twisted from his original plan by the millions of sin choices between then and now and he can come up with a ZZZ to the millionth plan. This plan will be awesome at proving God’s patience and love and where sin has abounded his grace will even more abound.
For the new plan to work, I must get my eye off of what could have been and embrace the new plan. Remember Lot’s wife? The new plan will have difficulties and losses calculated to teach me to hate sin and hunger for righteousness. It will also come with even more of his willingness to get “down and dirty” with me and walk the consequences with me. It will not be enough for me to “put up with the consequences that I have pulled on my head. I must rejoice in the consequences, Leviticus 26:40 for he whom the father loves//he punishes. Hebrews 12:6 Then God will meet me in the new plan and walk it with me for my benefit and his glory.
Some might even say “let me sin more abundantly because when I sin, he pours out grace to make the new plan work and gets glory from doing so. Therefore it is good to sin! God forbid! Plan A is always the best. Remember now your creator in the days of your youth.
I remember thinking that I would never make much of an evangelist because you have to have a sordid story of debauchery that is turned around by God before people will be impressed by God’s work. Trust me, all of our stories are sordid enough and impossible enough to bring God glory.
Others think that because they are so far from the original plan that God can’t use them. Too much water under the bridge. If we learn anything from the Bible it is that God is great at “making something of this mess too, if I will just let him do so.”
So Lord thank you for coming up with new plans but help me to stick with this one and revel in it together with you.
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