Today’s Faithful Friday quote is “A plan without His presence is a problem.”
I love listening and learning from different pastors around the country. This past year, I came across Pastor Michael Todd from Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had been a guest pastor at Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and the sermon he preached, “Marked” is one of the best I have heard. Since then I have been learning so much from his teaching of God’s Word.
In 2019, he began a new series called Release, which is the core of their 2019 Vision series. In one of the sermons, he said something that stuck in my brain. A plan without His presence is a problem. It made me start thinking about all the plans I have made and whether I even made them with what God might have in mind. Oh, that is powerful for a planner like me.
There are so many questions that arise from that one quote:
- Do I make plans based solely on what I think I need or want?
- Do I even bother to go to God and seek His insight on my plans?
- Do I ask God to reveal what His plans might be before charging off on my own?
- How many of my plans were really ill-conceived thoughts and not really a plan at all?
- Did I, in my haste to have a plan and move forward on it without God’s leading or guidance, create more problems for myself?
- Do I question why things are not working or not going along with my plan, without taking into account leaving God out of the equation?
- Do I then go to God and say, “Why isn’t this working? I thought this was YOUR plan?” When I never bothered to find out.
Eek. Look at how many words are in bold and with the exception of the last word, are all I’s and my’s. I looked at the quote again and realized that the key to unlocking any plans for the future, must be in conjunction with being in HIS PRESENCE. Now, I am not saying that you need to seek His guidance about what to have for dinner or what to wear on any given day. Although I do believe He cares about all the things we do, simply because that is how much he loves us. BUT, it is in the planning for our future and major decision-making where we really need to make sure we are in His presence.
HOne thing I have struggled with over the years is whether God cares where or even if, our family moves somewhere else. I believe now that it is not so much that He cares about the place, as He cares about our heart and intentions when we move. If we move, will we maintain and continue to grow in our relationship with Him? Will we seek to serve Him in a new community? I believe if the answer is yes to both questions, then it wouldn’t matter where that new place would be… as long as we are in HIS PRESENCE.
So friends, take the next week and really give some thought to the plans you have made without being in His presence. Write them down if that makes it more real for you. Write down whether the plans have worked or have not panned out like you thought they would. Look at each one and ask yourself, “In what ways did I either never enter into, or stepped out of His presence and what was the result?” It’s all about becoming more aware of the need to be in relationship with Him and in His presence daily.
After you do that, I would love for you to hop on over to my Facebook page and let me know your thoughts! Remember you can follow me on Instagram, Twitter
