Well, brethren, it is a privilege to be among you in this way. an awesome privilege, I should say, a fear and trembling type privilege. And the topic for this evening is actually gonna be our plans and God's will. And it does touch on aspects of God's sovereignty, but let us pray once again and ask for God to help preacher and hearer as we proceed, let's pray. Our Father, you have brought us together at this moment. And we do thank you, Lord. We are come together in the name of Jesus. And coming together in his name, we have his promise that he is here. And Lord, we do pray that you would send your spirit, that you would speak to everyone here, in this room, tuning in online, Lord, that you would cause your word to go forth to accomplish the purpose you have in your mind for all of us. And we pray, Lord, that part of that purpose would be the salvation of those who are yet in darkness. And we come and present ourselves to you. asking that you would minister to each of us. And we ask and pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. As you know, the Christian life is a journey. And it's a journey that leads to eternity. It begins when we enter in through that narrow gate, and we start embarking on that compressed road, a road in which few find, but a road that leads to everlasting life. And as we travel down this road of living the Christian life, There are times very often when we are confronted with issues, with challenges, with great blessings and joys. And along that road, we are forced to make decisions about what we should do at this juncture. And all of those things are ordained by our sovereign God, And he uses these things to make us more dependent upon him, to teach us more about him and ourselves. And so as we encounter various things, we have to sit down and evaluate the situation. Sometimes you may have to get counsel and advice, and we have to make a decision or perhaps make a plan as to what we're gonna do. And so tonight I trust that the things that will be brought before you will be some principles that would challenge and encourage us all as we seek to live this life of following the Lord Jesus Christ and serving him in this world. Now, by way of introduction, some foundational thoughts here, or truths rather, not thoughts, but truths about God's will, because we're considering our plans and God's will. So some foundational truths about God's will, firstly, is that we know God's will in three categories. When we think of the will of God, We know God's will in three categories. Firstly, we know it as God's decree. God's decree. And I'm going to quote from our confession because it expresses it very well. Our confession states that God has decreed in himself from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably all things whatsoever comes to pass. For those of you who are not familiar with such terms, I'll just put it more simply. God has decreed all things whatsoever comes to pass. Everything that occurs in this world, in our lives, God has decreed. Only God knows His decree. Deuteronomy 29, 29 says, the secret things belong to the Lord. And then if you remember in Acts chapter one, before Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples said, Lord, will you at this time or will the father restore the kingdom at this time? They wanted to know, well, Lord, what's going to happen next? And Jesus said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons, which the father has set within his own authority. So there were just some things that is not for us to know, namely God's decree. None of us know his decree, but God himself. The second category, when we think of God's will that we know is God's revealed will. That is what God has revealed to us. And again, quoting from the confession, The confession states, the Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. The Holy Scripture, the Bible. And quoting the rest of Deuteronomy 29, 29, that verse begins, the secret things belong to Jehovah our God, But it goes on, but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children. And God has revealed, God has told us in the pages of scripture, what his will is. That is how we ought to live, what we are to believe. You see, God doesn't leave us to figure these things out on our own and come up with our own perspectives and opinions. God has revealed in his word. And so the confession states it accurately. The holy scriptures is the only. sufficient, certain, infallible rule of all saving knowledge and faith and obedience. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God or rather is God breathed, the breath of God. All scripture is God breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction and training in righteousness. The third category in which we understand God's will is God's providence. God's providence. Again, our confession puts it this way. God, the good creator of all things, in his infinite power and wisdom, does uphold direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things from the greatest even to the least by his most wise and holy providence." Now again, that's a mouthful. But going back to God's decree, God's decree is about what God has purposed, right? What he has purposed to do. God's providence is actually the outworking of God's decrees. And God's providence is not about merely what God purposed to do, but God's providence speaks of God's activity, of God's activity. God in his infinite power and wisdom, you know what he does in his providence? He upholds. He upholds all things by the word of this power, says of Jesus. God directs and dispose and governs all creatures and all things. You know, God isn't, you know, deism teaches God made the world and sit backs and fold his hand and just watch everything. No, God is actively involved in everything that occurs in this world and in our lives. That is God's providence. In Acts 17, when Paul is speaking to the philosophers at Athens, and these philosophers, you know, they speak about things that they spin out of their own minds. You know, the arrogance of the human being, of the human mind, who reject God. We read about that in Romans 1. The arrogance of men thinking that they, out of their own wisdom, can find out the truth by their own heads. They looked no further than their minds. And they had this inscription to an unknown God. And Paul says, I'm going to tell you about the God that you don't know. He is the God who made the world and all things. You see? And God, in making the world and all things, he has appointed the bounds of our habitation. That is where we will live. And God has appointed the seasons. And then Paul also says that in him, we live, we move and have our being. I just inhaled. I just exhaled. That was controlled by God. And that is true with each of you, with all of us. You see, that's God's providence. And in Psalm 147, it speaks about God who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth. We read in the Sermon on the Mount, he causes the rain to fall upon the just and the unjust. We talk about the weather. And some people speak about chance. Boy, you really lucked out. And fate. And they talk about mother nature. Well, brethren, we know the truth. That is God's providence. And so God's providence is the unfolding of God's decree which is God's will. So we know the will of God in these three categories that is God's decree, God's revealed will in scripture, and God's providence. Now as we proceed the first principle I want to underscore and we as we consider this topic of Our plans in God's will is this. Firstly, planning is a reflection of God, our creator. Planning is a reflection of God, our creator. You see, it is in our nature to plan, to make plans. It is in our DNA, if you will, to plan things. Why? Because we are created in the image of God. And God created the world by plan. God didn't do it randomly. God created the world in six days. He could have done it in an instant, but he did it in six days, setting a pattern for us. And God did this systematically in this six day progression. And I won't read the entire creation account, but you think about day one, God created the heavens and the earth. There was darkness and there was water. And there was a heavens in here of darkness and water. And the first thing he created was light. Let there be light. Now think about this. He didn't create the sun on the first day. There was light before there was the sun. So sun isn't necessary for there to be light. He created light out of darkness. He did that on day one. And he called the light day and the darkness night. So there's a lot of water here. And you read that in Genesis. I'm just doing this quickly. Day number two, he created the sky. The Bible calls it the firmament. And you read that it was in the midst of the waters, the firmament in the midst of the waters. And then you read about the waters above the firmament and the waters beneath the firmament. Ah, the clouds, the rains come down and then you have the oceans. You see, that's where we, and the sky separated the waters. You see the wisdom of God. And then on day number three, he gathered the waters underneath the sky together and he caused the land to appear and he called the land earth. And there on the ground, there was a foliage, the trees, the grass, fruit trees, and all kinds of things he created to grow out of the ground. He did that on day number three. Then on day number four, He creates the sun and the moon. There's already light, there's already day, there's already night, but he creates the sun and the moon and to give light on the earth and to regulate time, seasons, and days, and weeks, et cetera. And the greater light, the rule of the day, the sun, and the lesser light, the rule of the night, that is the moon. And he also created the stars. And then on day number five, He created the fish and the birds and commanded the fish to be fruitful and fill the seas. And so you have all kinds of sea creatures in the waters that are under the firmament. And then the birds multiplied on the earth. He did that on day number five. And then on day number six, he created the animals, the insects, and last of all, he created man. And I want you to turn with me to Genesis chapter one. Let's look at this verse here, what it said about the creation of man. Genesis chapter one. And you can be as the Berean and check my description of creation with the book of Genesis. I wrote it out carefully, but you can check me on that for yourselves. But Genesis one, As we come on that sixth day, we read in verse 26, Genesis one, verse 26. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God is saying, let us make man in our image after our likeness. And what is man going to do that is something that reflects God's image? Verse 27. And God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female. That's it. There's nothing else but that. Male and female created he them. And God blessed them. And God said unto them, be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth. And here's what I want to focus on and subdue it. That is the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, et cetera. But here, this aspect of God, this dominion that man is to have over the earth, God told him, in addition to ruling the animals, etc., but the earth, he says, subdue it. And this word, subdue, means to bring it under submission in the service of man. And I just want to emphasize this one aspect about this, with God commanding man to subdue the earth. As an image bearer, man has the noble responsibility and task to rule not only the creatures, but the actual physical earth. And you think about some of the engineering feats done by man. Everybody know what the Panama Canal is? It's there, but it wasn't always there. The canal did not always exist. Man made that canal. It was a man made effort and Teddy Roosevelt was the president at the time. And if you were to look at that or some documentaries on this, it's an amazing thing. They didn't have the technology that we have, but they move earth and, and dirt and stone and, all of these things in order to create a waterway that will connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. You see, this was an amazing, one of the largest engineering feats done by man. And you see, man is doing this. Where did they get the wisdom to do that? Where did they get that wisdom? They're made in God's image. In order to do that, they had to come up with a plan. That's the point here. They had to come up with a plan. You think of the Great Wall of China, the longest man-made structure in the world. It's an integrated defense system and it took over 2,000 years to build. You think of when I drive to New York, Sometimes I look at the bridges and I say, wow, this is amazing how they did this. I think about they had to set the foundation in the water in the Hudson River, and they had to push back the waters, and they made this structure. And these bridges and cars and trucks are going over the bridges, or you have the tunnels. Well, these things are ways in which God has given the talents and skill to man as his image bearer to make plans and carry out great things. Now, as I sit here and look among you, I don't know if any of you are building bridges like this or making canals in the world, but when you think of planning, I mean, this is something that really we can relate to. How about planning a budget? All right. How about planning a vacation? Oh, now you're talking. Planning for retirement. Hey, maybe we should move to Florida, to the promised land. How about planning to start a business? Planning for a career? Planning to put that addition on that house? planning for marriage, planning for that promotion. You see, these are things in which involves these things involve planning. And so my point is, is that as we proceed through the sermon, the message of the sermon is not going to be don't plan. That's not the message of the sermon. But here, this first point is, is underscoring the fact that planning is good. It is God honoring because we reflect his image. And God says elsewhere in his word, we read that all things are to be done decently and in order and to do it skillfully to his praise and his glory. So whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do all to the glory of God. And so planning is good. So keep that in mind as we proceed. All right. Second point this evening, Principle I want to underscore is this our plans. Let's say we've made a plan And we've gotten counsel And we read books about what we want to do here. And we really studied the matter carefully. We've been on the internet and we watched the blogs and saw it on YouTube and we've done all our research and we formed our plan and we prayed over it. And other people are in agreement with us that it is a good plan. We have brethren praying and a multitude of counselors. I mean, we've, we checked all the things that we should do responsibly. Okay. We've made our plans. Now we need to remember this. Our plans are subject to God's wisdom. Our plans are subject to God's wisdom. You see, God overrules our ignorance. God overrules our ignorance because we can have the best plan that ever could be made by a human being. And yet there are things that we don't know that only God knows. And so under this principle here, we need to remember God overrules our ignorance when it comes to our words. Turn with me to Proverbs 16, Proverbs 16. God overrules our ignorance when it comes to our words. Proverbs 16, one says this, the plans of the heart or the preparation of the heart belong to man. but the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah. Now what we see, we see two things here. The plans of the heart, and this word translated plans means the arrangement of the mind. You know, like Abraham ordered the wood for the sacrifice, he had to put everything in order. And as we are in a situation here and we need to speak to someone, and we seek to work it out in our heads what we're gonna say. And so we arrange our thoughts and think, oh, no, no, no, don't say it like that. No, I'm gonna say it like this. Okay, if I say this first, and if they come back and say this, then I'll be prepared and I'll say this if ready. So I wanna get myself. So the arranging of our hearts, of our minds, it is of man, but the ability to answer is from the Lord. We resolve in our minds what we want to say, and this is our attention, but the words that we actually speak are determined by the Lord. You know, you wanted to say something a certain way and it comes out a different way. And you say, I didn't mean for it to come out that way. Let me restate the matter again. Or you may say something And you were surprised at how well the words just came out of your mouth and how you remembered these things. And you said, wow, the Lord really helped me there. You know, and God may humble us. And he may use this to keep us humble and to keep ourselves out of trouble with our words. You know, sometimes our mouths can get us in trouble and maybe we're ready to say something. And, and what actually comes out is a bit different from what we've anticipated. It's still us speaking. I'm not saying we, we kind of lose sense of who we are. And, um, Or we may be encouraged when we have a difficult task, such as preaching at Trinity Baptist Church right now at this moment. I don't know all the words I'm going to say. I have things on my paper here, but what comes out, we trust the Lord will be gracious to us. What about the prayer meeting? Men are nervous and You want to get up and pray and I feel that nervousness and you don't know and what's going to come out of your mouth and It's the Lord that helps you. Think of Luke 21 verses 14 and 15 when Jesus said, settle it therefore in your hearts. That is, when you're brought before magistrates and rulers because of your faith, and perhaps you're going to be on trial because of your faith, he says, settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer. for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or gain say and how you find that sometimes you're in a really pressured situation and you don't know what to say and God comes and helps you. You see, God can overrule our ignorance. We may devise things where he may direct us in our words, but not only our words, but our actions. God overrules our ignorance when it comes to our actions. Look at verse 16 of the same chapter. I mean, verse nine, rather verse nine, Proverbs 16, verse nine. We read a man's heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps. A man's heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Think about this, brethren. Where would we be today if we lived our lives and we got everything we thought was good for us in our past? Where would we be today? Can we take any credit for where we are today? No. because the Lord has directed our steps. Paul or Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road with the authority from the high priest to go and arrest those who are in the way. We read in Acts chapter nine, that was where he was going. That was in his mind to go and arrest more of these Christians. And Jesus encountered him and Jesus changed him. opened his eyes and Jesus redirected his whole life. You see, his way was one way and God intervened in another way. And turn with me to Acts chapter 16, Acts 16. And this is illustrated here for us. Paul and his travels, Paul, Silas, and now Timothy with him, we see that Paul and his companions, they attempted to go to certain places and were redirected. And we read in Acts 16, verse six, And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. They wanted to go to Asia, but the Spirit forbade them and brought them through Phrygia and Galatia. Verse seven. And when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go to Bithynia. And the Spirit of Jesus permitted them not. And passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us. And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them. So you see here, Paul wasn't just going and just wherever he wanted to go, he went. Paul was a man who was guided by the spirit of God, the spirit of Jesus. Now, granted, we're not to expect this phenomena of visions and dreams for our guide as we have the scripture, but in principle, we see in this passage how, here we have it illustrated how a man's heart devises his way but the Lord directs his steps. That's the point. All right. Our next principle regarding our plans and God's will is this. We must not trust in our plans, but in God alone. We made a plan. It's a very good plan, but we must not trust in the plan. You made plans today. Or you have plans, you have a five-year plan, two-year plan, one-year plan. You have plans. Don't trust in your plans. We must not trust in our plans, but in God alone. Why? Because our plans are not ultimate. God's will is ultimate. And turn with me to James chapter four, James chapter four. James chapter four, beginning in verse 13, we read this. Come now, you that say today or tomorrow we will go into this city and spend a year there and trade and get gain. Business, right? We're going to expand our company and we're going to go here Set up shop and set up our wares and conduct business. We're going to spend a year there. We're going to trade We're going to get gain. This is what we're going to do Verse 14, whereas you do not know what shall be on the morrow What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away For that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall both live and do this or that. But now you glory in your vauntings, all such glorying is evil. And what is being condemned is not planning. Planning is not being condemned here. What's being condemned in this passage is sinful bragging and boasting about your plans. We're going to do this, then that's going to happen. And by the time I reach this point in my life, I want to have this. I'm going to have that. And I'm working toward that. It's nothing wrong with working toward these things, but it's the sinful boasting. That is the problem here, the sinful boasting. And they forget this important factor in the planning is that first of all, we need to be alive. We need to live. And therefore it all hinges on this, if the Lord will. That's it. Our plans, everything that we plan to do, it all hinges on this, if the Lord will. You see, brethren, we really don't know what we're doing. We really don't. I mean, we do the best we can with what we know, right? We can't be blamed for that. But in the final analysis, we really don't know what we're doing a Man's goings are of the Lord. How then can man understand his own way? Proverbs 20 verse 24 Jeremiah 10 23 says O Lord. I know that the way that the way of man is not in himself It is not in man that walks to direct his steps And we also need to keep in mind is that God can fulfill our desires beyond our plans. We make a plan, it doesn't mean God has to work with our plan. Even though we've gotten good counsel and we prayed about it and we prayed so much that somehow we think God is actually gonna work according to our plan. He may, but he doesn't have to. because God is bigger and better than our plans. We know the verse, now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask. or think, that's our plans, right? God is able to do things that we've never considered. So therefore, when we make plans, what we need to do is we need to walk by faith in God and not in our plans. And turn with me to 2 Samuel. I know we're turning a little bit here, but 2 Samuel chapter 10, 2 Samuel 10. This is a passage that has encouraged me much, and I love this passage. You know, Joab, he was a tough guy, but there were some points in the narrative we read that Joab had done some good things and said some good things, and this is one of them. In 2 Samuel chapter 10, Here they are in battle against the Syrians and against the Ammonites. They are fighting on two fronts. And they're in a situation there where Joab comes up with a plan. Verse nine, 2 Samuel 10, verse nine. Now, when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before, that is in front of him and behind, He chose of all the choice men of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians and the rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai, his brother. And he put them in array against the children of Ammon. So there he realized they're battling and he said, Oh, we're surrounded by the enemy on this side and that side. So now he realizes he takes the choice man. He's going to fight the Syrians. And he tells his brother, you take the others and you fight the children of Ammon. He divides the army. Right? That's the plan. And verse 11, and he said, if the Syrians be too strong for me, then you shall help me. But if the children of Ammon be too strong for you, then I will come and help you. Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good. In other words, he's leaving it all in God's hands. We've made our plan. If you need help, I'll come help you. And if I need help, you'll come help me. But let us be encouraged. Let us be courageous and let us play the man. We're in the situation. This is where we are. We must act. And this is what we must do. And the Lord does what seemeth him good. It is all in God's hands. And so that's the point here is that we must not trust in our plan, but in God alone, you know, the verse Proverbs three verses five and six, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Now we have some concluding lines of application. So we've considered these principles that our plans are subject to God's wisdom and that we must not trust in our plan, but in God alone. I have a few lines of application here. Firstly, this, these truths will help us deal with disappointment in a way that honors God. These truths will help us deal with disappointment in a way that honors God. And in this road that leads to heaven, on this journey that leads to eternity, we will encounter disappointment at various degrees, sometimes very intensely. And instead of murmuring, complaining, sinful anger, resentment, Crippling discourage, you know, you've made a plan You've prayed and you know what when you make a plan, you know what's going on. You're investing yourself in this thing here You're working at it You're praying over it. And so you are, this becomes very personal and dear to you. And you see that if this thing can be accomplished, my life, in fact, it will help me serve God in his kingdom. And so, but these truths, but what happens when your plan just blows up in front of you? The thing just crumbles and falls apart. I mean, you've been working at this thing and you've had your heart and you've been praying at this. You know, we can easily be overcome with a sense of complaining and start murmuring. You know, if it wasn't for him, I would be here. If it wasn't for her, if it wasn't for that boss, or my children, they're just holding me back, or whatever it may be, if it wasn't for this or the sinful anger where you can get angry and frustrated because things are not working out the way you expected, or you can get to the point where you say, you know what, I just don't care anymore. I don't care. I don't care what happens to me. I don't care what happened. You know, that crippling discouragement where you get so down. And so to the point where you say, well, it doesn't matter to me anymore. And I just give up. Nothing ever works for me. Nothing ever works for me. Turn with me to Psalm 131, Psalm 131. I'm sure we can relate to some of those feelings to some degree or another. Psalm 131. Psalm of David. Psalm reads, Jehovah, my heart is not haughty. nor my eyes lofty, neither do I exercise myself in great matters or in things too wonderful for me, surely I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child with his mother. Like a weaned child is my soul within me. Oh Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. And you know a weaned child, and this would be a child that was nursing. and a child that nurse at its mother's breast, and the child would see the mother, the child that is not weaned, they lose, they go crazy because they want to eat, they look at this one way to find satisfaction for themselves, and they have no control, and if they don't get what they want when they want, they have this temper tantrum, whereas the weaned child can sit upon his mother's lap and wait to be fed, right? You see, the child that is not yet weaned, that child sees life in one way. There are no other options. There's only one way that he sees for his happiness, contentment, and satisfaction. And he must have it his way in his time on his terms. And the child does not know any better and the child thinks of no one but himself. You see, the child's view of the world is very narrow, right? But the weaned child sees things differently. The weaned child listens to his mother, is patient, knowing that there are other ways for him to obtain his desires, and learns to trust and respect the wisdom of his mother. In so doing, the child learns self-control. All right, let's apply it to ourselves. Now, we plan our lives, right? We hope and strive to achieve our goals, and it comes to nothing. Our schemes for earthly joy, as Newton wrote, are broken before our eyes. Things do not turn out as planned. You know, you figure by this stage of my life, I thought I would be here, but I'm here. And by the time, for the time I've been spending doing this thing, this is all I have to show for it, right? And things don't turn out the way we planned it. then we can be like that child that is not weaned, and we can find ourselves to be miserable with discouragement, frustration, anger, fear and anxiety for the future, self-pity. We don't have answers, and we wonder what's going on, and we say, why does things have to be this way? This is not what's expected. It's not fair. Why me? And why now? I don't get it. It's not right. When I look at other people, remember Asaph Psalm 73, he looked at the wicked and here I'm serving God and I'm chasing, I'm plagued and the wicked, they're going along and they're enjoying their sin. It's, it's, it's, it doesn't measure up. You see, brethren, we must be weaned from ourselves. from our wisdom and our way and our time. Though we know that we're not in control, we know that, yet sometimes, subtly, we may act as though we are in control. Now, we ought to be responsible, all right? We need to be responsible, we need to take action, we need to do things. We need to be active in our responsibility, but even as we are fulfilling our God-given responsibilities, we can suddenly think that somehow we are in control of what's going on in our lives, and hence we have plans. We come up with plans, all right? We have a problem, we make a plan. Remember what I said, planning is good. We ought to make a plan. We have another problem. Okay, let's come up with a plan. All right, we have plans, but we must remember that these plans, it's all subject to God's wisdom and that we must not put our trust in our plans. And our plans is not the only way to resolve the issue. God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And God has determined the issue of our lives and we cannot run our lives better than God. He has determined the issues of our lives and therefore we must be still in our souls and know that God is God. God is wise. God is good. And God does all things well. And therefore brethren, we need the rest. We say, take a chill pill, right? We need the rest. We need to relax our souls in his care and trusting that God knows what he's doing and he makes no mistakes. Second line of application is this. These truths will keep us from pride. And I know I must hurry up. These truths will keep us from pride. Let he that glory, let him glory in the Lord. Suppose if every time you made a plan, it all works out. Every time you make a plan, it goes right according to schedule. We might begin to think some things about ourselves that are not true. We might say, you know, I'm pretty smart. I may write a book. I'll give people advice and help people who are struggling. And they say, wow, it seems like every time you do something, it always works out and always come together. You see, we could go into area of pride thinking that my life is together. I got it together. I have it together, excuse me, because I know how to plan. And if you knew how to plan like me, you too can have a nice, happy life. No, these truths will keep us from pride because if our plans come to pass It is only because the lord willed it It's only because the lord willed it Let he that glory let him glory in the lord and and we don't have time but in deuteronomy chapter 8 I'll commend that to you to read Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter eight. This is when the second generation of the children of Israel was on the plains of Moab about to go into the land of promise and Deuteronomy is pretty much a whole big long sermon of exhortation and warning to this generation. They're all on the plains of Moab ready to go in. And Moses is reminding them when you go into the land and you build your nice houses and you have all these things, this land flowing in milk and honey, remember how the Lord led you in the wilderness. And remember, lest you say in your heart, by my power and the might of my hand, I have gotten me this wealth in Deuteronomy 8, 17. I have these things because I worked hard at it. And I have the prosperity I had as I went to school. I have my education. I worked long hours. I did this, I did that. And if you do the same, you too can prosper. So, get up and get to work, man. And stop complaining. Do what I did. Well, with that attitude, well, later on in that chapter, it says, well, who is giving you the power to get wealth? You've worked hard, yes. But who gave you the power to work? who prospered your labors. It was the Lord. And so that's the thing that Moses is wanting from them, is that don't get so absorbed with all your activity that you begin to think you are where you are because of you. No, no, it's because of the Lord. Unless the Lord builds the house, they that labor, labor in vain that build it. And then finally, these truths will help us grow in contentment. They will help us grow in contentment. Again, I'm thinking here, you have a plan, it crumbles before your eyes, things are not the way you want them to be, what do you do? Well, don't be deceived by your plans. And don't think that your plans will make you content. Your plans, my plans, has nothing to do with contentment. In other words, contentment has nothing to do with our plans. You know, if I can just get past this year or get past this set of difficulties and hardship, then I can be content. No, no, you're not where you want to be. We can understand that. Well, you work, you work to try to improve things, but you know, brethren, we ought to be content now, not when our plans are fulfilled. because God is our contentment. Knowing God is enough. And these truths will help us grow in contentment because is that when we have this focus about doing God's will, our focus and desire will be to do his will and to embrace his will. whatever God is doing in our lives, whatever my God ordained is right. We will have this focus. You know, I've made a plan and I'm attempting to do things, but God is at work in my life. And I don't know everything that I need to know. And God knows what is best for me. He knows me better than myself. And therefore my faith is totally in him. And therefore what is going on in my life at this time what I don't understand what may frustrates me or discourage me I need to step back and think again It is my father in heaven. It is the lord And god is is working in In his wisdom look at my life now As I said at the beginning of the sermon, where would you be? If you if you would have gotten everything you ever wanted in your life What would you be? Thank God for His wisdom. And so we need to think that way as we look forward to the future because our focus will be to do His will and to embrace His will because His will is the best. His will, His way is the best. is the best. And that's why Paul could say, we are of good courage in second Corinthians five, nine there. Wherefore we are ambitious. So we are, uh, whether at home or absent to be well pleasing to him, Paul is saying my ambition in life is to please God. That's my ambition is to please God. And so with this mindset, we come to terms with our, with our lives, including our plans. And we began to be more like our Lord Jesus. Remember what Jesus said, my meat and drink, or my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. Jesus had a passion to do the will of his father. And brethren, we ought to have that passion, that same passion to do the will of our savior. to have that mindset, thy will be done. And so brethren, as we close this meditation, this is actually the first of three sermons. And, um, because everything I like to say cannot be said in one sermon, but I want to end this here by reminding us brethren, what are your plans right now? What are your plans? What's your life like right now? You want it to get better? Do you think you'll be happier when this change or that changes? Brethren, embrace the will of God. That doesn't mean don't try to improve things. No, try to improve things. That doesn't mean don't plan. Go ahead, make a plan. Make another plan. Pray over it. But as Hezekiah brought the letter before the Lord, bring your plan before God and say, Lord, this is my plan with the wisdom and understanding that I have. I don't know everything that needs to know, but Lord, I submit my plan to your wisdom and to your will because I am your servant. And I trust you more than my plan that you will do that, which is best for me and my life. And therefore, brethren, you can begin to live life and see everything in your life as a win-win. It's a win-win for you. It's a win-win for the glory of God. And for any who are not Christians, you've heard the truth tonight. God is in control. You're not in control. And if you think you are in control, life is going to be very difficult for you. And that difficulty is going to lead you to come to give an account before this God, even as we heard this morning. And when you have to come and give an account and live your life, you're living for yourself. You're going to pay the consequences of a selfish life. of a life not lived in obedience to God, not lived in following the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one name on the heaven whereby we must be saved, and that is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And apart from him, there is no hope for you. There is no contentment for you. There is no happiness for you. until you come and submit your life, your will, your money, everything about you to the Lord Jesus Christ and come to Him in repentance and in faith. Well, may God be pleased to take, I feel like the boy with the fishes and the loaves, take the fish and the loaves and multiply it in your hearts that will bring forth fruit 100 fold to his glory and his praise. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for this time in considering your word this evening. We pray that you would write these things upon our hearts and that you would do things beyond what we're even asking you tonight because you are a great God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. And to your name be the glory, through Jesus Christ we pray, amen.