Change of Plans

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

How do we respond when what we thought our life would look like doesn’t even resemble what it has turned out to be?  What do we do when we believe we’ve heard from God then nothing happens or the opposite appears to be happening?  Why do changes in our plans even happen?

Case Study 1: Joseph and Mary 

The Big Change: Matthew 1:18-25 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Wow!  Imagine planning your wedding and then finding out that your fiancé has not only been unfaithful but is now pregnant by someone else.  This was grounds for stoning.  Poor Joseph, he has chosen to love a young girl and has been working hard to prepare a home for her, and then he hears she is with child.  How hard that must have been!  His dreams were dashed to bits in one moment.  All his plans and desires flew out the window so to speak.

I am sure that Joseph never planned to get divorced before he even consummated his marriage. You see in the Jewish culture in those days a marriage covenant was already legally binding once the engagement was made. 

Until late in the Middle Ages, marriage consisted of two ceremonies which were marked by celebrations at two separate times, with an interval between. First came the betrothal [erusin]; and later, the wedding [nissuin]. At the betrothal the woman was legally married, although she still remained in her father's house. She could not belong to another man unless she was divorced from her betrothed. The wedding meant only that the betrothed woman, accompanied by a colorful procession, was brought from her father's house to the house of her groom, and the legal tie with him was consummated. Taken from: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Relationships/Spouses_and_Partners/About_Marriage/Ancient_Jewish_Marriage.shtml?p=2

The Reason: In the case study above we see that God changed Joseph’s plans.  God did not consult Joseph about the changes ahead of time, instead he sent a messenger to announce the changes in a dream.  God chose Joseph to be the earthly father and protector of His son, the Messiah.  God knew that his plan for redeeming the world was more important than the plans Joseph had been making.  He also knew that he could trust Joseph to not only obey, but to willingly care for Mary and Jesus. 

The Response:  Joseph, like many of us, could have rebelled, whined, and complained about how his life was no longer going to look like he planned. He could have become angry with God because he was going to have to suffer humiliation and social disgrace. Instead Joseph was humble and submissive.  He believed the word of the angel. He took Mary as his wife and did not sleep with her until after Jesus was born.  He faced the future knowing he was obeying the will of the Father and walked ahead come what may. 

Case Study 2: King Saul

The Big Change: 1 Samuel 15:10-11,24-29   ¹⁰Then the Lord said to Samuel,¹¹“I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.   ²⁴Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded. ²⁵But now, please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship the Lord.” ²⁶But Samuel replied, “I will not go back with you! Since you have rejected the Lord’s command, he has rejected you as king of Israel.” ²⁷As Samuel turned to go, Saul tried to hold him back and tore the hem of his robe. ²⁸And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else—one who is better than you. ²⁹And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”

1 Samuel 16:1,13 ¹Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.” ¹³So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

Here we see that Saul is anointed King of Israel by the prophet Samuel.  Saul then chose not to honor and obey God so God rejected him as king and had Samuel anoint David to be king, thus tearing the kingdom away from Saul’s family. 

The Reason: In this case study we see that Saul, by his disobedience, made choices that caused the change in his plans.  When he was anointed king I am sure he planned for his family to stay on the throne for many generations to come.  He probably pictured his son Jonathan taking the throne when he was too old to continue. 

The Response: 1 Samuel 20:30-33 Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!” “But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. 

It is obvious the Saul was not going down without a fight.  1 Samuel records numerous times when Saul tried to kill David.  In fact, he chased David all across the country trying to kill him.  Saul’s heart was hardened and he was not consulting God’s will anymore.  He was out to stop God’s plan from being fulfilled so he could keep hold of his own. 

In both case studies we see major changes in the plans of those involved.  In one case the plans were made by man and changed by God.  In the other, the plans were made by God and changed by man’s poor choices.  We also see that the attitudes men determined their outcome.  Joseph could have rebelled.  If he had God’s plan for redemption would have still prevailed, but we might not even know Joseph’s name.   In Saul’s case, if he had honored God, his family might have kept the throne for many generations. 

Whether our lives look like we planned or our plans were changed by God or by our own choices, we must determine to have the attitude of Joseph.  We must decide today to submit our ways unto the Lord and let him lead from this day forward.  Trying to hold onto our plans will only lead to hurt and possibly separation from God, as in Saul’s case.  We are not our own. We were bought with a price.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”  

All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.