40 days after being evicted from the cabin and living in the woods of rural P.E.I. we were told by the police we had to leave the area. Cold, tired, miserable, homeless, alone with no money, we were expected to find a way for ourselves out of the pit where God had placed us. In the past I would have thought long and hard on how to escape and then proceed, bull-headed, on that path. That night, however, God spoke. He repeated the same phrase hundreds, if not thousands, of times into my weary brain. His words? “Do not plan, Homer, do not plan.”
The wrong path?
Those words struck me hard. Our family was in the worst situation we had ever been in, shaken to our very core, and God did not want me to plan but trust and follow Him. What started out with a beautiful promise from God seemed to have ended in failure and defeat. We could not understand what God was doing.
The promises we hold so dear God gave to us many years before. In 1998, God promised us a house. In 2008 He promised us land. Now, as a wandering homeless family, we were farther from His promises than we had ever been. Where had we gone wrong? How could the path of faith lead in the opposite direction of the destination? With the world so upside down, perhaps you find yourself in a similar situation?
God's package deal
What we do not realize about the promises of God is they are a package deal. God always ties His promise to the two inescapable physical elements of how and when. When God promises something it will come to pass at a time and method of His choosing; not before and not after. The Father’s promises stand apart, but the how and when He brings them about remain a mystery until the promise comes to pass.
Yet not every personal promise the Father gives to us will come into being. The reason for this is many of God’s promises are conditional. When we receive a promise from God, He requires we also accept the time and method of fulfillment are not up to us. These conditions keep us from seeing the wonderful promises of God come to pass in their lives, for they conflict with the ‘self’ nature we all have. The threat of losing control leads us to run ahead of God trying to make the things happen. By following this path, we can prevent the promise from ever appearing.
The timing of God
We are terribly impatient creatures when ruled by ‘self’. Trained from our earliest years to do things our own way, when we want to, our ability to push our own agenda to make God’s promises come to fruition knows no bounds. However, God alone is Lord over time and will often block us until we see and submit to His perfect timing. Only when our world comes screeching to a halt, will we realize our control over time is just an illusion. This is why we do not plan.
Just as God brought us to our knees in the woods of P.E.I. He has brought the world to a standstill according to His purposes and timing.
Waiting
The training to accept God’s timing involves a significant amount of waiting, which undermines and destroys ‘self’. When the Father gives us promises we must accept that He will often lead us into ‘still waters’ where we will spend many days waiting for His promise to arrive. These days are not without action though, for all the while we will have to fight the headwinds of ‘self’ just to keep standing in faith.
Waiting can be the most exhausting part of the journey of uncompromising faith as we progress toward promised fulfillment.
Just a few days after Passover this year, God will have sequestered us in this tiny motel room for over 1,000 days. At the same time God has confined many others in this season, content to let us wait until fulfillment. How are you handling your confinement? Are you sick with worry, dread and fear, worshiping faithfully at the idol of ‘self’ or are you able to rest in the Father’s arms knowing that He will bring to pass the promise at the right time? How we handle this waiting will reveal our maturity level and whether we will see His promises come to pass or not.
The path of God
Although accepting the timing of God is a monumental challenge, accepting His method of fulfillment is on a whole different level altogether. What we often miss with God’s promises is His desire and intent to build in us the character that will be compatible with His promises. Our Father cares more for our relationship with Him than anything we do for Him. For this reason, God’s path to the fulfillment of His promise often involves a hard journey where He changes us into the likeness of His Son, Jesus. Without following His path, the promise cannot be fulfilled, for we could never bear up under it.
If we persevere in following Jesus with uncompromising faith, the path He leads us on will conflict with our ‘self’ nature. Though the headwinds of ‘self’ will buffet if we wish to see the promise come to pass we must accept His path; so do not plan. Submitting to His lead becomes a daily battle inside as we continually have to choose to follow God over ‘self’; accepting the unknown and untried over the familiar. The path He chooses may involve suffering, loss and difficulty but the promise always stands as a greater reward at the end.
Insane journey
To hold on to the promise of a house and land while being led into homelessness is nothing short of insane to the natural mind. We were often told this by others, and sometimes by ourselves. Nothing about our journey makes sense to those who live according to the mandates of ‘self’ yet this is the path of promise Jesus led us on. The path He chose for us made us face fear, lust, greed in our ‘self’ nature and choose the hope of promise His way rather than our own way.
Think back to the time of Joseph. Do you really believe that putting Joseph into slavery and then prison would lead to him becoming second in command over all of Egypt? No person could realistically expect that Joseph’s journey would lead to such a destination, and yet it did. God gave Joseph a promise, and Joseph accepted the timing and path God chose. Was it easy? No. Did Joseph have good and bad days as he waited and suffered? Yes, we know this from God’s word. Yet Joseph saw the fulfillment of the promise despite the path of loss and suffering he had to walk.
The God who gives the promise will always make sure He fulfills it in His time and in His way.
Do Not Plan!
Reeling under the principality of fear that has gripped the globe for a finite period, we have, as people of uncompromising faith, a glorious opportunity to accept a change in the path to God’s promises. Jesus has upended our plans and shown once again He is sovereign over time. God is allowing our god of ‘self’ to be cast down. We can now surrender our plans, our timing, our path and learn to wait on God for His promises or we can be broken by the pall of fear that surrounds us.
For every promise God gives, a specific path and timing is required for fulfillment. You know the promises He has given you. To see those promises come to pass we must surrender our own plans about how and when He will bring to pass what He has promised. Though the path is painful and the waiting hard, will you stand in uncompromising faith to see the promise fulfilled? Will you follow His directive, “do not plan” and follow His path and His timing or will you go your own way?
Blessings,
Homer and Wanda
P.S. At this pivotal Passover season our family extends our blessing to you. Great miracles are about to take place. Though we suffered much through March, we believe an imminent fulfillment is at hand for His Bride.
We thank Katie Barker for following God’s lead and posting the wonderful word that is the inspiration for today’s post.
Excellent word!! Wisdom for this season!
Thank you. Blessings to you Christine. We are in a fasting and prayer mode now as Wanda had three dreams in a row about fasting on April 8. Although it is Passover we cannot observe it now so we will observe it next month just like we did in 2011. For some reason the Father has given us an assignment to counterattack after the brutal battles in March. Real war in the spirit right now.
Pray you and your family are doing well and having a good Passover.
Blessings to you dear sister.
Just received a voice note from a sister who says that this is the first year all the idolatrous statues will not be paraded in the streets by the Catholics in their processions for Good Friday and that the Lord showed her there is a breach i the prison wall for a short time and we are to pray from Isaiah 42 where it says ‘ Restore’ over those in the prison houses so the harvest into the Kingdom can also come out of there. This sister lives in Italy but it is true of most Spanish speaking countries too. At this time, Jesus took captivity captive and led away a train of vanquished foes!! May the captives be released from their deception and see the true Light!!
Awesome post! So true that God’s timing is not the same as ours. Often as we wait, He is working things out for us and others and building our character. Although waiting is not easy, I’m thankful that the Lord does not give us blessings that we are not ready to receive. He builds our character so we can represent Him well and accomplish His purpose. We just have to wait and trust God, there is no way around it if we don’t want to mess things up by running ahead of God. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Thank you so much dear sister. You are so very welcome. May our Father bathe you in His blessings and warm you by the fireside of His peace!
You’re welcome! Amen, Thank you!
Beaitiful and touching post Homer. I agree that waiting is hard. But, as you said God’s timing is totally different from ours. The Lord wants to teach us patience.
I finally manage to get on to your blog. I will save it so I can access it easily. Have a blessed weekend.
Thank you very much. Blessings to you too!
So many nuggets to chew on for months in this post. Do. Not. Plan. That has got to be one of the most difficult commands to us as humans, especially since we’ve been trained to plan, have a plan A, B and even C.
As I read this I thought about Abraham and what Hebrews 11 speaks about him dying without the entire promise being fulfilled. Because Abba said it, he held onto it and that was that. He was alive to see Isaac being born but not the descendants as large as the sands of the seashore. My point, when Abba speaks we have to simply trust His Word.
I had a friend who was too resolute in his posture waiting on Abba. He opted to wait for the Lord to manifest his promises, despite the cost to him of homelessness, divorce and even losing his child. He’s chosen to stand still and wait for what the Lord said to him to manifest. I respect and admire that. I also admire respect the Les’ stance to wait for the house and the land and everything in between, in spite of the circumstances showing otherwise.
Isn’t that like Abba though? He makes us a promise and the fulfillment is almost never what we expect it to be. I suppose that’s how our faith is built, that’s how it is tested and tried, that’s how self dies so Jesus can live, that’s how only He gets the glory.
I’m thankful that when all is said and done, “Our Father cares more for our relationship with Him than anything we do for Him.” That’s absolutely true. Oh to be completely transformed into a His image ??
Happy Passover to my family in Canada❤️. May ABBA’s Shalom be yours. PS: I see your story in verse 41 of Hebrews 11 ?…”By faith Homer and Wanda…”????
Thank you so much Deandra. Truly who is like our God who takes us through the valley and bestows on us His great affection and love to turn us into the likeness of His Son! Oh that we would realize just how little we are in ourselves and how great Jesus is.
What is so very great about every journey of faith is not the sacrifice and loss we endure but how Jesus humbles Himself again to lead us through the darkest of valleys. His steadfastness to walk with us through our rebellion, meltdowns and faithlessness always leaves me humbled. Truly we serve a God beyond measure and a Lord beyond beauty.
You are a blessed and much loved sister Precious One and from our family to yours we thank you for these kind and loving words. In this season of Passover may His Light break forth over you that you may see the new path that lay ahead. Do not fear for the unknown but hold tight to the known, Jesus. He is about to come to you in power and might to give you recompense! Your greatest desire is His very passion.
Father, Give Jesus the desire of His heart in Deandra’s life today. Amen.
?❤️
I so appreciate and value you sharing from your painful training experiences so honestly and vulnerably. The Father has worked so much of His beauty into your souls as you have clung to Him in trust! He has definitely given me that same directive many times. Do not plan. Yes, Daddy God!
Thank you so very much Jennifer. Your words are a blessing and encouragement to us. Knowing that you too have been honored by the Father with such deep experiences with Him makes your encouragement a double honor. Thank you!
May our Father continue to bless you and your family with an abundance of His grace and love!
Thank you so much, Homer! I receive those blessings gratefully! And, you are truly welcome 🙂 🙂
God is good and we have to remember to not go our own way!
Amen!