Trusting God in the moments

DAILY BIBLE READING:

1 Kings 11:1–12:19 
Acts 9:1-25 
Psalm 131:1-3 
Proverbs 17:4-5

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Acts 9:6 "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

As I came across our Verse for the Day in my reading, I couldn't help but see a biblical truth - that God typically doesn't give us His long term plans.

In Acts 9:6, we read that when Paul was converted, the Lord spoke with him and told him to get up and go into the city. After Paul had exercised that much obedience, God would give him more instructions. God just wasn't going to give too many details to Paul at the moment.

And this isn't an anomaly. It's the way that God often speaks with His followers. 

In Genesis 12:1, God essentially told Abraham to leave his hometown, just start walking, and God would tell him when he arrived at the desired destination.

In fact, the Psalmist said that God's Word simply shows us what to do in the moment and the not-too-distant future. It's not intended to provide us with a Long Range Plan.

Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path." (and I might add ... its not a massive spotlight for far down the road.)

So, why is this the case? Well, let me share why I think God often operates this way...

If God gave us a long term plan, we would find very little reason to trust Him for the resources or for our next steps. So, He often desires for us to live moment-to-moment. This typically happens when life gets turned on its head and bad things have happened or we have stepped out on a huge step of faith. In doing so, we have plenty of reason to trust God in the moments.

So, does this mean that we aren't to come up with long range plans? Goals? Of course not. Nehemiah demonstrated what it looks like to assess a massive project, strategize, and organize the resources to get a large task done. But, even then, we see that God gave Nehemiah two enemies who gave him more than enough reason to trust in his Lord. The book of Nehemiah is peppered with verses that tell us that he was praying often.

So, it's not wrong to come up with long range plans. But, realize that God often puts us in situations where we must trust Him in the moment not knowing what the next moments will hold. Those are gifts from Him, though. They give us reason to increase our faith as we trust in Him.