Planning Ahead
Think about your upcoming plans for the day, week, year, and beyond.
Maybe you want to start a business.
Maybe you want to raise a family.
Maybe you want to write a book.
Maybe you want to travel the world.
Maybe you want to start a ministry.
Maybe you want to volunteer in your city.
Maybe you want to plant a garden.
Maybe you want to pay off debt.
Scripture tells us …
“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
Proverbs 19:21 NIV
Making plans isn’t a bad thing. In fact, the Bible tells us that we will harvest what we plant (Galatians 6:7), so we should be diligent—not lazy—to wisely prepare for the future. But we must simultaneously hold those plans loosely, because God knows the full picture of our lives.
God is always working in and through His people, giving them the desire and power to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13). But sometimes, we require rerouting. Sometimes what we want isn’t in His plan.
But even when we don’t get what we’ve hoped for, He always has our good and His glory in mind.
Jesus modeled how to surrender His own plans by literally giving His life up for us—for our freedom. And, even though it wasn’t easy, our lives and our futures look different because God’s purpose prevailed.
So today, make a list of some of your plans and dreams. Then hold your hands out in front of you, and visualize giving all of your dreams and plans over to God. Picture all of those plans evaporating from your hands. Then, ask God to show you which plans He wants to give back to you and if there are any new dreams He’s longing for you to receive.
“Now the sons of Issachar were, Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimrom, four. And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father's house, to wit, of Tola: they were valiant men of might in their generations; whose number was in the days of David two and twenty thousand and six hundred. And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief men. And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers, were bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty thousand men: for they had many wives and sons. And their brethren among all the families of Issachar were valiant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies fourscore and seven thousand. The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three. And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour; and were ...
Called to Contentment
Observing Sabbath-rest allows us to step into the same rhythm God established in creating the world. Scripture tells us when God rested from His work, it was because His work was complete (Genesis 2:1). God took joy in His accomplishment.
In Hebrews 4:10, the writer draws a parallel between God's rest and ours: "For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his." We're invited to delight in His presence and share in God’s divine contentment.
This rest isn't about taking a break from good works. It’s about surrendering the need to control by trusting in the completeness of God’s work. Our "rest" releases us from the burden of proving ourselves good enough to earn His love and approval. These things have been secured through Jesus’ finished work on the cross. When we step into this rhythm of rest, we can find contentment that spills over into every part of our lives.
Is God calling you to stop trying to do everything on ...