When we leave God out of our plans, we’re inviting all sorts of chaos into our lives, not to mention regret and loss. In this message, Dr. Stanley warns us against going our own way without a thought to what God thinks about our choices. God’s plans are the best plans, so why not partner with Him?
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listening to him waiting upon him is a
vital vital vital part of life and he is
more than willing to give you direction
trust in the Lord with all your heart
lean not to your own understanding in
all your ways acknowledge him and he
will make your paths straight
next on InTouch planning without God the
often wonder why your plans don’t work
out you’ve done your best you thought
you thought of everything you’ve laid it
all out and somehow it didn’t work why
didn’t it work I’ll tell you one reason
it didn’t work I’ll tell you reason that
it doesn’t work for most people that is
because you leave God out you plan they
call them to your knowledge and your
understanding your resources and what
you want to accomplish in life where you
want to go and yet you leave God out of
the planning think about this half the
foolish that is God is omniscient he
knows everything
omnipotent has all power and think about
the fact that he is willing to give you
guidance and direction he’s willing to
show you when where and how he has all
that’s necessary to provide everything
you need to walk in the center of his
will to leave God out of your planning
is foolishness when he’s a God who loves
you cares for you will provide for you
undergird you protect you and you leave
him out and yet that’s exactly what many
people do they just leave God out of
their life so the question is what do we
do that
I want you to turn to a passage of
Scripture that I doubt if you’ve
probably read more than
once and when you read it you thought
well there’s nothing in there for me
there’s a lot in there for you so I want
you to turn if you will to the 11th
chapter of Genesis and this is the
passage that most people just look at
and read over quickly and keep going
the scripture says now the whole earth
used the same language and the same
words it came about as they journeyed
East and they found a plain in the land
of Shinar and settle there they said to
one another come let us make bricks and
burned them thoroughly and they used a
brick for stone and they used tar for
mortar they said let us build for
ourselves a city and the tower whose top
will reach the heaven and let us make
for ourselves a name otherwise we’ll be
scattered abroad over the face of the
earth whole earth and the Lord came down
to see the city and the tower which the
sons of men had built the Lord said
behold there one people and they all
have the same language and this is what
they began to do and now nothing which
they purpose to do would be impossible
for them come let us go down and there
confuse their language so that they will
not understand one another speech so the
Lord scattered them abroad from over the
whole face of the earth and they stopped
building the city there for its name was
called Babel like Babylon because there
the Lord confused the language of the
whole earth and from there the Lord
scattered them from abroad over the face
of the earth now if you go back to
the ninth chapter and the flood has come
the floods gone now and God is saying
something to his people that now that
that’s done he said to them they were to
separate and replenish the whole earth
that was God’s command there to
replenish the whole earth and thank
that’s God’s command from the very
beginning as as for you be fruitful and
multiply populate the earth abundantly
and multiplying it that was God’s
command and so the flood has come and
gone and so Noah had three sons Shem ham
and Japheth and so all of these people
in chapter 11 are descendants of Noah’s
three sons
he lived 350 years after the flood so
these are the descendants there’s a lots
of them 350 years and so they make a
decision here a decision that is not the
decision of Almighty God because God
said to them I want you to replenish the
earth scattered abroad cover the earth
and so they come to the conclusion now
350 years later we don’t want to do that
what we want to do is we want to all get
together and we want to build a temple
here or a house or a city of probably
all three so that we’ll all be able to
stick together and and have one language
and when God’s made it very clear they
were together to the uttermost parts of
the earth so they decided not to do that
and so God says I’m gonna have to break
that up so this whole chapter here is
really about the people of God deciding
to do something other than God said do
and to make their own plans so let me
ask you a question where does planning
fit in your life do you plan daily for a
certain activities do you make plans in
your life
considering Almighty God you say that
Jesus Christ is your Savior and your
Lord if he’s your savior your Lord
all of our planning ought to take into
consideration what does he think
what’s his will what’s his choice was
his plan for my life because you and I
can’t come up with a plan equal to his
plan because he knows our weaknesses and
frailties he knows what’s the best for
us to have was the way I thought not to
have so he knows all the intricacies of
it and yet we take off and do our own
planning get ourselves in trouble and
wonder why things don’t work out if God
is in your plan it’s gonna work out
because he’s the plan maker and he has
all power to make all the plans work out
perfectly but most people don’t plan
with God in mind so ask yourself the
question do you make plans for your life
without considering God at all do you
make plans for example about you’re
gonna buy a house do you ask him about
it you’re gonna buy automobiles you ask
him about that you’re gonna get married
you ask him about that we can just go
down the list of all the things that we
do that oftentimes people don’t ask God
about if we don’t seek God’s guidance
and direction in their planning we lose
make wrong decisions make them before no
words sometimes what we plan is the will
of God but the timing is not the will of
God God is interested in what we do in
their lives and how we plan the was just
thing he’s interested in everything you
are now interested in and he has been
there’s some the many choices are not
life and death but they’re choices we
make and we make choices and get in the
habit of making choices doing certain
things well before you get in that habit
you should ask God their Lord what you
will in this what’s your purpose in this
in the business world
people say well this is just the way it
is know that God has a will in every
single aspect of our life and here they
said here’s how are we going to do so
let’s think for just a moment about the
consequences of this leaving God out
number ones this you can’t claim God’s
promise of provision and protection you
leave him out you do not have the right
to claim his provision and his
protection and how many times that
people said to me well I sort of watch
this I’m sort of prayed about it what
that means is I made up my mind told God
what I think ought to be right no and
and one of the consequences you cannot
claim God’s presence and his power and
provision when you don’t ask him when
you when you don’t ask him to give you
the plan which is of serious consequence
the second one is this you can honestly
ask for his blessing if you don’t ask
him whether to make this plan or not and
then the people they’ll pray and tell
God what they’re going to do and ask for
his blessing well is it the will of God
is it his purpose it is his plan for
your life if I don’t ask him for
guidance and direction I don’t have the
right to ask him to bless it and people
make wrong decisions that sometimes are
very expensive decisions emotionally
maritally financially educationally you
name it and so the Tower of Babel is a
good example of planning without God
they said here’s what we’re going to do
and here’s how we’re going to do it
absolutely opposite from what God said I
think about how many parents today are
in debt deeply in debt because their son
or daughter said here’s where I want to
go to college I know it’s gonna cost but
I’ll get it and I’ll pay you back and
their parents are deeply in debt for
thousands of dollars because it costs
thousands and thousands of dollars per
semester for them to go to that
particular school not asking Lord is it
your will is it your way and parents
need to have the wisdom to say well I
want you to go to
knowledge I want you to get an education
I want you to do your best in life but
you’re asking us to go in debt and I
don’t think that’s the will of God you
need to think about some other place you
can go then eat the yellow scholarship
or where you can work and pay your way
through and many parents today are
paying off college debts that they
should not have to God is interested in
every decision you and I make think
about this you are a holy son or
daughter of the Living God
you are you are indwelt by the Holy
Spirit you are a treasure of God he
saved you wrote your name in the Lamb’s
Book of Life you belong to him he’s made
a commitment to you to guide you in
Legion to make your provision for you
whatever that is not always make you
happy but may provision for you now
you’ve got to ask him Lord what’s your
next step
so without planning something else
happens the absence of God limits the
possibilities of whatever we do whatever
we do in life if we don’t ask him for
his direction guidance we said limit on
what we can do we’ll make decisions that
may not be right or wrong but there
could be better and far more profitable
if we had asked him Lord what would you
have us to do so decision making is a
vital part of our life and we make them
every day and some days decisions make
decisions are made by people that affect
them in one hour the rest of their life
so the Holy Spirit living within you is
a very very important aspect of your
life he’s there to give you guidance and
direction see that you have the
provision to do the will of God not
something you just think of to do so the
absence of God limits the possibilities
of what you do it’s an indication of
pride listen you sure I’m not a prideful
person you get up in the day you take
off you do your thing all day long and
you come home and at night and
thank you Father
well did you ask him about to start with
listen when you and I make plans without
the guy
we are expressing personal pride I don’t
need him today
this is like this is a just a normal day
it’s raining but it’s just a normal day
and so I don’t need to ask him yes you
do we need to ask God every day to give
us direction for our life and she show
us how to make decisions that seem to be
very insignificant but they’re not
insignificant you’re a child of God has
a plan for your life as a will feel life
decisions aren’t insignificant
it’s spotlessness prayerlessness we get
in the hurry we don’t we don’t somebody
says well or God isn’t interested in
everything we’ll name what he’s not
interested in well he’s not interested
in whether I wear brown shoes or black
shoes well probably not because he
already knows you don’t have a pair and
it doesn’t make any difference so that’s
not an issue but he is interested listen
to this he is interested in you looking
your best being your best look your best
be your best do your best because you
represent him it doesn’t mean that you
compare yourself with somebody else but
you want to do your best be your best
look your best because you represent the
Son of God and so in every aspect of our
life it makes a difference and so when I
know that I’ll pay the price for example
if we don’t seek His guidance and
direction we’ll choose the lesser man no
one’s you may choose much less than God
would have for you because from your
perspective you can’t afford this or
this that the other and sometimes God’s
worked out something already in your
behalf that you don’t know about and
he’s waiting for you to trust him and
he’s he’s waiting for you to wait upon
him and to seek His guidance before he
opens the door and so sometimes we think
well you know Lord I’ve tried and tried
if God doesn’t give you a go-ahead I’m
and I’ve lived long enough to know if
you disobey God you paid the
consequences and sometimes you just have
to wait and I could I can tell you some
other examples and one was that I
wrecked my car
and I waited for a while and well the
second day his lady hit me from behind
the second day my kids wanted to know
what I was gonna do better car comes
agent one of them had one in my wife had
one and who was who I had to have one
the whose car was I gonna take that was
a problem and so I waited several months
and then one of my deacons let me have
one of his cars and so one day I was
driving down the street with a fella
want me to go to a meeting and I said
okay he asked me a question he said when
are you gonna buy you a car I said I
don’t know I’ve been waiting for God to
show me and he said Oh what kind would
you buy if you were gonna buy one he God
knows this is absurd I didn’t even think
I simple if I just make a choice I have
one like this which was the best three
days later got a check in the mail to
buy that car so I had all kind of
choices to do most anything except obey
God and sometimes time is the biggest
enemy because we don’t get it when we
want it we think well God you’ve just
forgotten no it has not going to give
you a set of examples but I’m just
saying asking for God’s Direction is the
key to your life to what you have where
you go what you do what you accomplish
whatever it might be so when you and I
disobey God we get ahead of him not only
does it cost us but think about this
it’s gonna result in confusion here’s
what happens when you do when you make
the wrong decision you hear there’s
confusion for the simple reason you have
to start thinking about what did I do
wrong
well always ever Heather oh how did I
listen to you what maybe did this
likewise there’s gonna be conflict
when you make a decision without asking
for God’s direction there’s gonna be
conflict in your heart watch this
because the Holy Spirit is gonna give
you an uneasy feeling he’s going to give
you a sense of of inadequacy and the
sense of of question of doubt there’s
going to be natural conflict in your
heart when you do the wrong thing and we
do the wrong thing by getting ahead of
God what’s the will of God what’s his
plan likewise I can prove costly and I
can think of things in my life and so
can you that have cost us probably
because we didn’t do the right thing
or we didn’t do it at the right time and
we didn’t do it the right way God gives
us direction the time the place and the
how and with whom if this if that’s
necessary and likewise there’s gonna be
loss in some point when you don’t obey
God you don’t follow his leadership and
guidance it cost you something it could
be emotionally or it could be physically
gonna be in your own physical body
whatever it might be likewise there’s
gonna be regret when you don’t wait for
him and you do it on your timetable
there’s gonna be regret because listen
God chooses the best he chooses the
right the best time and the best way you
name it they couldn’t wait they were
gonna do it their way will God let them
do it their way and there was deep
regret likewise there’s gonna be pain
there lots of decisions we step ahead of
God on this that’s pain sometimes it’s
physical pain but the worst kind of pain
is emotional pain if either think about
this if I’d have done this if I don’t
wait if he if she if that and so the
result of disobeying God stepping ahead
of him
is always gonna be if either and
sometimes it’s a disaster because people
don’t wait upon the Lord and seek his
direction they make decisions that this
Astros disastrous financially
emotionally you
listening to God is a major major major
principle in the whole Christian life
listening to him and waiting upon him I
do not know of a more valuable lesson to
learn than to listen to God and obey Him
period and there’s this whole story of
all the languages and all the chaos that
resulted the Tower of Babel a lot of
stuff but the basic lesson is they
didn’t listen to God then wait for him
and so God confused the whole thing and
I think there are a lot of people living
in confusion today and that their life
because they haven’t listened to God
back here it decisions and they’re
confused today or frustrated or
discouraged because well I don’t know
what happened well just stop and ask God
Lord did I make a wrong decision have
our steps ahead then I ask you to
forgive me I didn’t repent of that
things may not ever be like our life on
to me but that I can start today doing
what you want me to do and light up the
circumstances it’s not listen it’s never
too late and listen to God it may be too
late in order to enjoy all the blessings
that God had in mind
but it’s not too late to listen to him
because one of these days we’re all
gonna die and we’re gonna face him it’s
better listen it’s better to die and
face him having listened to him six
months than to die haven’t not listened
to him at all so the whole theme of that
chapter it’s all about listening to God
doing what he says rather than what man
says and so what happened God stopped
the project he shut the thing down
totally shut it down he changed that
plan so let me ask you this question
where is God in your planning today for
your life and your agent whatever’s
going on what’s your plan
what are you asking God to give you a
plan you said well I don’t think my life
yeah I don’t know you go about no no
that’s not the question a God has a plan
for every single one of us now the
interesting thing is that sometimes
people want to tell us what the plan is
and they want to tell us how to operate
you always listen to God before you
listen to somebody else and after you
listen to somebody else you still listen
to God Lord what’s your plan what’s your
plan about without by this whether I cel
that you know whether I go this way and
it was this might should be my friend
not my friend what no words what’s your
plan and listen God is willing to answer
that question about anything and
everything you ask him about so I would
simply ask you a question in all of your
planning you and your house phone you
and your wife or your children or your
parents do you ask God to give you
direction for your plan where you go
when you go who you go with you name it
it’s all important and I pray that
you’ll not forget that I want to stand
and have a prayer together all right
father we thank you that you have a will
for our life you said you did thank you
that you’re living within every single
one of us who has trusted Christ as our
Savior thank you that you care about all
the things that we care about you care
about some things that we don’t even
think about you love us unconditionally
you want the best for us you’ve given us
your best in Christ all of us face
decisions today and every day I pray the
holy spirit who indwells all of us who
believe us will make us sensitive to his
presence and help us to realize that
every decision is important to you and
grant us this morning the wisdom to make
wise decisions having listened to you
for your guidance and father I pray for
somebody here who is unsaved that they
might recognize this morning their
sinfulness that they do not have your
assistance your help your again and so
about anything that they’re willing to
confess their sinfulness surrender their
life to you and you will begin at that
moment to give them guidance for their
life and lord I pray for that person
standing here who’s thinking well one of
these days
remind them Lord that they have no
assurance of another day but that today
and every day you will give us your
that’s because you love us and we pray
this in Jesus name Amen
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