Good Plans -V- Great Plans

Take a minute to read Matthew 1:18-25 on BibleGateway.

As I read this passage the other day for probably the 100th time I noticed something that had previously alluded me. As I began to process this new truth I became uncomfortable because I realized that it had the potential to upset my life and my plans.

Are you ready? You're probably not going to like it either. "Sometimes God interrupts our good plans". Notice what the passage said, “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.”

That sounds an awful lot like some really good plans. Mary was engaged to be married, she was trying to honor God and her family. She was working through the process of transitioning from a teenage girl into a God honoring woman. Now an angel of God steps onto the scene and throws a wrench into the works. 

Sometimes we get really focused on the idea that God needs to intervene in the lives of people who are messed up right? We think of our friends who are a mess. We think of family members who are making poor decisions. If we're not careful we start to assume that God’s only interested in bringing about His purposes in the lives of “those who really need it". 

Think about Mary for a minute. She was doing it right. She was engaged to be married, she wasn’t out fooling around or getting into trouble, from the outside looking in, and the inside looking out, she was honoring God with her life. Yet, even in the midst of her honoring God, God chose to intervene and interrupt her plans. 

I challenge you to think about that idea for a minute because we can sometimes start to believe that we’ve already got everything figured out. We’re honoring God, we’re following what we believe to be God’s call on our lives and if we’re not careful we miss what God really wants to do. In other words, God may want to interrupt your God honoring plans. 

In Jeremiah 29:11 God says (NLT), “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.”

Sometimes we allow our plans for our future and our hope to push out God’s plans for our future and our hope. What we’re talking about here isn’t about good and bad, it’s about better and best. And God’s plans, even when they interrupt our plans, are always best. Be encouraged and keep moving forward. 

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