By His Plan

Doubt is a powerful mover in our lives. It has the ability to stop us in our tracks, derail us, and in some cases be used to deliver us from evil. God uses it in so many ways.

The problem with doubt is that if it stays too long in the heart it begins to cause an erosion of trust between us and God. The single biggest area where this can happen is our plans for the future. What are some things we can do to get our focus back on the Master Planner and restore our trust in Him?

Review Our Motives (vs 2): Planning is good but reviewing what is driving the plan is often of greater importance. The Lord cares about our plans but our motives often expose the lack of trust the Lord would have us place in Him.

Commit Our Plans to God (vs 3): Significant doubt can come tumbling into our lives when we don't commit our plans to the Lord. When we commit our plans to Him, it opens the door for the Lord to challenge us about the plan itself and our motives. We must be open to His challenge

God Has The Master Plan (vs 4): Nothing can cause us to be derailed spiritually more than the influence of evil. When we experience evil, it is hard to trust anyone. But this is the precise moment we must trust the Lord. He is the Master Planner with the Master Plan. He doesn't initiate evil but He has the power to redeem.

Trust God to Guide Our Steps (vs 9): Sometimes doubt can creep up when we are looking to much into the future. Sometimes what God wants us to do is pay more attention to our immediate steps. He is moving in our lives and guides our steps. The first step in trusting in His guidance is acknowledging that He is guiding our steps.

Pursue God's Understanding (vs 22): Doubt can cause a sense of confusion about many things. Proverbs is full of admonitions to pursue an understanding of God and how He works with us. This understanding can be a fountain of life in a situation that feels dead

Avoid the Way that Leads to Death (vs 25): There are many ways that "seem" right to us but so often they lead to death. God's ways lead to life and for that reason alone we should pursue His ways with all our heart.

Have Patience (vs 32): When we doubt, we may feel tempted to act like the "warrior" and storm down everything. Our anger might outweigh our faith. But we must have patience. The person with patience often sees a variety of solutions that God would have us pursue.

Thank you Tami for refreshing us with the book of Proverbs - the book of wisdom. To get focused on God, I think it is best to examine ourselves, and take a scan through or hearts and sincerely judge ourselves about how or where we have positioned God in our lives, If we can sincerely and truthfully answer this question to ourselves, we can see how far we have drifted away from His presence and indeed we will know whether some other things capture our focus because the bible says where your heart is, is where your treasure is. If we can sincerely say our heart is always with the Lord, then we can safely say our focus is on Him. Thank God He created each one of us with a heart.

I do believe that we go down the path of doubting because we do not start our day right. Even if we do not have our devotions to start the day because of the many things that we have to do, I believe that it is best to start our day with a prayer to God, silent or audible, for his guidance. Many times I do not start my day with P4, in fact sometimes P4 ends my day, but it is necessary to acknowledge God in all we do and I think that we can achieve that through prayer.

I have always found it interesting that we should be praying for our leadership, but God is ultimately in charge. I guess I don't fully understand this. However, it is always a good reminder to be praying for those in leadership. If we understood everything, He wouldn't be God. A few things struck me as I was reading the other verses in this passage. 1. We must commit our ways to the Lord, and He will guide us. 2. Don't be proud. No matter what Jesus is in charge and makes things happen for us. 3. Our motives are very important. God knows our heart.

Taking a look at this chapter/verses is eye-opening! We need to stay focused. I think doubt(s) start to come when we loose our focus and perspective of things. Reading the various comments were really great as it's interesting to hear others thoughts on this and how the Lord is working in their lives.

TAMI
YOU ARE SO CORRECT ABOUT PROVERBS 16 AND OFTEN TIMES IN REFLECTION I REALIZE THAT THINGS I HAVE PLACED BEFORE GOD HE SEES ME THROUGH EFFORTLESSLY. WHY IS IT THOUGH THAT WE SEEM UNABLE TO COMMIT ALL THINGS INTO HIS HANDS? I BELIEVE THAT EACH DAY I AM LEARNING MORE AND MORE BUT I LONG FOR THE DAY WHEN I WILL AUTOMATICALLY COMMIT ALL THINGS INTO HIS HAND AND NOT WORRY ABOUT IT ANYMORE.

GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU.

REGARDS IN CHRIST

CECIL

I read the comments and these verses from Proverbs and it makes me think that we shouldn't care about things in this world at all. So, I think I take it to the extreme. Either I care too much, meaning I exclude God from my plans or I go the other way and I think I should not care at all and that if I was really in touch with God I should not even have any plans. It is almost to the point that if I do have plans I feel like God wants them to fail to show me that I cannot count on plans of my own.

I need to find a balance.

I have to admit that I told God last night that I wasn't impressed with His creating mosquitoes and wood ticks. He gently reminded me that everything - including them, have purpose. Had it not been for sin, I think they would either not have existed or would not have the tendency to be annoying and bite!
We do have to remember who God is and focus on that. That should keep us humbly seeking His will, not our ways. "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain..."
It is amazing to me that the God who created everything, loves me, and knows the purpose He has for me...and He still can keep everything going (universe, other people...)!

Thanks Tami!

Wow Tami, thank you for today's challenging thought! For me, prayer, just being still and allowing God to speak eradicates doubt and realigns my focus on Him. On many occasions, while I'm quiet, He will gently remind me of a promise or simply comfort my soul with His presence and doubt immediately disappears. This is a habit He has been teaching me lately; to consistently provide an atmosphere (of quiet & stillness) in my heart where I can hear Him speak. If I'm courting doubt or unbelief too long, I can become irritated, anxious depressed, etc. Therefore, if I sense my mood, emotions, thoughts, etc. shifting from that 'soul' peace & joy, I'm learning to recognize that I'm moving away from trusting Him. Is it an easy process? NO! But glory to God, He is patiently teaching me along the way!!

Wow- great question! My husband and I are facing the decision to relocate with his current employer or look elsewhere for a job. Reading this P4 today was not by accident and God was able to teach me some things that I know in my mind but haven't fully received in my heart yet- to wait on Him! Only He knows our circumstances and what will happen and to doubt is to have little or no faith. I love Jesus and I know His ways and His timing is perfect.
I also am learning to thank Him for all things- family, health, home, food, etc. He has always been attentive to my needs (great or small) and He has provided me so much more that this new obstacle is not impossible for Him. He will turn this obstacle into something possible! So in essence, I think it's important to stay focused on Him and not our circumstances, to trust that He will deliver us from our woes, and to thank Him in all things.

God is with you all. I so appreciate all your comments. I am humbled by your ability to express yourselves with wisdom. I fear I live too much on emotion and forgetful of God's very presence.
As I read I kept saying to myself "Yes!". It is satisfying to hear faithful Christians like you. I long to be here every minute of the day. I feel it's like being with God...I feel safe. Please pray I will trust and obey for there is no other way. To be happy in Jesus is to trust and obey.

Recently I had a ninety minute long conversation with an atheist who is also a philosophy professor. He asked some powerful questions which I could not answer, but I was willing to try to find answers. Later we continued the conversation via email. I am not an expert in apologetics as much as I love studying books like A CASE FOR CHRIST by Lee Strobel or listening to Ravi Zacharius. But I tried to be a witness for Christ.

But what happened was that after a few exchanges on email and him being pretty negative--it felt like the life was drained out of me. Even though I have been committed to trusting God and depending on him more than ever before, I felt all these doubts rushing in. It helped me realize that I really do need more encouragement in my spiritual walk.

But the best thing was that when I got on line this morning and shared my discouragement with a friend, the very next thing that popped up was powered by 4. And this was the topic.

I needed this! Thanks so much. I will be pressing into God and crying out to him to help me make some correct decisions--as well as others who need to make these decisions with me.

Rob,
I can certainly understand the difficulty of keeping a balance in your Christian life. It seems like for most of us, it's a constant challenge. But here are some thoughts about how you can better find and keep that balance. The key, of course, is staying in God's Word regularly--at least four or more times a week (seven out of seven is better yet). Reading your Bible, thinking about what it's saying and then consciously applying it to your life will help you maintain a healthy balance.

Jesus is a good picture of a balanced life. He prayed (Matthew 11:25-27), He worshiped (Mark 1:21), He spent time alone with God (Matthew 14:23). But He also went to weddings (John 2:1-2), dinner parties (Luke 7:36) and had special times with His friends like Peter, James and John (Mark 1:29). So living the Christian life isn't a matter of "all or none."

Furthermore, having a godly friend (or your spouse if that person is a believer) to discuss your goals and plans with is another way to keep balanced. I know my wife is one of the first to tell if I'm working too much or doing this too much or that too much. Proverbs 27:17 reminds us, "Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

As a believer, you also have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). He will help you stay balanced as well. Ephesians 5:18 says, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." So just as wine can control our lives (which Paul calls dissipation), the Holy Spirit can also control our lives if we let Him.

Finally, don't get discouraged if you find you've allowed your life to get out of balance. I read recently that the space shuttle is on track only nine percent of the time. The other ninety-one percent of the time the pilot is making minor adjustments to get it back heading the right way. That's the way it is with us too (and another reason that God's Word is so important to us).

Hope those thoughts help. If you have further questions or concerns, please let us know.
Allen
Biblical Correspondent