Change of Plans | Fuel For The Weekend

Welcome back friends to another blog post to fill up your tank this weekend! Are you running on empty? Have you been feeling a little low on energy, a little discouraged or unsettled? Do not fear! God is with us and He is helping us and He is for us! We are going to talk about how our plans may change in big or small ways but God's Plan will always remain. His plan does not change and He knows every detail of every moment of every single day of your life. What an incredible God we serve! Amen?

My childhood friend lives far away and this week she is here in Indiana. We wanted to see each other so we planned to meet for supper one night and that did not work out, due to an illness in the family. We rescheduled for breakfast with just the two of us and that did not work out either, due to another illness in the family. As much as our plans said we wanted to see each other, if only for a quick hug, it just was not going to happen. And that's okay because we are still friends and that will never change. We communicate regularly, pray for one another and our families, and sometimes in life, our best laid plans just do not happen.

Here in southern Indiana, we had some cold weather, ice, a little snow, and a lot of rain. The temperatures are hovering around freezing, but it is not too bad. I decided to go get myself some breakfast this morning after I dropped my son off at school. I knew I had a lot to do today and I need to get some work done this afternoon for the company I work for, so I stopped at Starbucks.

I got a delicious breakfast sandwich, a chocolate croissant, and a mocha cookie crumble frappucino.

I will be working on my frappucino for a little while. As I eat breakfast and sip on my frappe I am just meditating on God's Word and how sometimes we plan good things, like a breakfast out with a friend, and it doesn't happen, or (and honestly this part is what I am thinking about this morning) how we plan our future, assume the job will work out, the finances will be there, and then when it doesn't happen, it is easy to become angry, frustrated, insecure, and then doubt sets in. I don't want to operate from a place of fear or insecurity so I have been talking to God about my current job situation and what my future will look like after mid-March!

God reminded me of Joshua. God gave Joshua a big job to do. Let's read it together:

DEUTERONOMY 31:23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel unto the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.

In the book of Numbers, we know that God told Moses to send men out to search the land of Canaan that He was giving to the children of Israel. So Moses did that and Joshua and Caleb were two of the men that went to spy out the land. We read this in Numbers 13:1-16. Joshua and Caleb were the only two men who had a good word to say about the land. The rest of the men were negative and complained.

NUMBERS 13:32-33 (32)And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. (33)And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers,  and so we were in their sight.

They had already decided it was too big of a job for them to take it on. They failed to remember the signs and wonders and miracles God had already performed for them. They were so upset that they wanted to go back to bondage, and be slaves once again in Egypt. Numbers 14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. Aaron and Moses fell on their faces. Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes. This was treason against God! They knew what He had done for them and when they are face to face with the promised land, 2 of the 10 men were excited and said, "Let's take it! It's ours!" And the other men were cowards and fearful, so they complained, "It's too big of a target to hit!" But Joshua and Caleb thought, "No! It's too big to miss! Let's take the land!"

NUMBERS 14:22-23 (22)Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice; (23)Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it.

Moses was so sick of dealing with those stiff-necked, hard-hearted people. They never would surrender to God's Plan and just let God be God. Moses tells them the only ones who were going to the Promised Land were Caleb and Joshua and their children.

DEUTERONOMY 1:27-38 (27)And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. (28)Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there. (29)Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. (30)The LORD your God which goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes; (31)And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. (32)Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, (33)Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. (34)And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, (35)Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers. (36)Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD. (37)Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go thither. (38)But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.(34)And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, (35)Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers. (36)Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD. (37)Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go thither. (38)But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.(35)Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers. (36)Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD. (37)Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go thither. (38)But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.(37)Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go thither.(38)But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.(37)Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go thither.

So we see that Moses is stern with the people. He told them that all their murmuring and complaining cost them the Promised Land. Their fear and doubt and lack of faith cost them their inheritance. They wanted the past and the familiar. So now they were given a choice and they did not choose to believe God could deliver them out of the hand of the Amorites. After all God had done for them. God still has a plan to bless the children of Israel though. He is not blessing the complainers and the doubters. They will never walk into all God had promised them: a land flowing with milk and honey. Even Moses was not able to enter that Promised Land because of his disobedience to God.

NUMBERS 20:7-12 (7)And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (8)Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and it shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and beasts drink. (9)And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as He commanded him. (10)And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? (11)And Moses lifted us his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. (12)And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

We may remember how Aaron caved to peer pressure and made a golden calf for the people to worship while Moses was up on the mountain with God. And now God has instructed Moses to speak to the rock and instead he gives himself the credit for giving the people water and he hits the rock twice instead of speaking to it. So instead of demonstrating to the people that the water came from God and it was His provision yet again, Moses made it about himself and Aaron. "Must we fetch you water out of this rock?" They were not able to do anything apart from God. So God told the brothers they were to lead the people to the Promised Land but they weren't going in to possess it and neither were the complainers in the camp.

That means that time has to pass and years go by. Joshua is getting old but he remained strong. And God was with him. 

JOSHUA 14:10-12 (10)And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as He said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. (11)As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. (12)Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

 A score of years is 20 years, so fourscore and five years means Joshua was 85 years old. He said that at 85 years old he had the same strength he had when he was 45 years old. God preserved his strength. The Bible tells us clearly in Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Joshua is a living, breathing example of that. He has waited for all of these years to do what God told him he would do. He is ready. He has been waiting well. He has not gotten ahead of God's timing and look at it paying off.

I do not fully understand what all is happening right now in the spiritual realm in my life and with my job and everything God is doing to shift some things. I do have perfect peace and I am trusting God. In this time of waiting, I have been actively serving God and serving others. I am busy with God's call on my life and I do not have time to think long or ponder much about where God is taking me. I am walking by faith and not by sight and the further He takes me, the more I know I can trust Him.

You see the complainers had seen God's provision time and time again. God said they provoked Him 10 times! He was long-suffering with them. He was patient and did not destroy them the first, second, or even ninth time they yelled in His face that they were mad He freed them from slavery and delivered them to a land of promise. Imagine! He has been a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day to show them which way to go. He protected them from danger and look at the strength he preserved in Joshua, an 85 year old man, fully ready to go to war and take the land he had been promised.

Let's get our resolve back. Let's forget what things look like and sound like. Are we going to focus on the giants in the land and the high walls of the city? Or will we shift our eyes to the giant slayer! Great God Jehovah is on our side and there is no wall high enough to keep Him out. There is no giant big enough to stop our God Yahweh! Whose side are you on? Will you see yourself as a grasshopper and allow others to discount your worth too? Or will you be like Caleb and Joshua who said, "This is a sure win! God goes before us and we will get the victory!" Your life, your choice, choose well.

I am excited to know that things change, but God does not. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Our plans may change. Our days and weeks and months and years may not go as planned. We may have mapped out the perfect idea of how things should go, but when we ask the Lord to order our steps and lead us, we may find that we have to throw our itinerary in the garbage. Trust me, God's plans are ALWAYS better than our own!

This weekend, let this sink in. Think about these passages and dig a little deeper into what God was trying to teach the children of Israel in the wilderness. What is He trying to show you this weekend? I hope something I shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens