Unbelief?
Lack of faith?
Common sense?
What?
If You Are Trusting God for “A” and You Start Making Plan “B”, What is That?
May 7, 2010 by JustDoyin
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It may very well be all of the above, and I don’t think of them will help us. “Common sense” is something that does not come into play when we’re dealing with God because the how sensible can we be? God isn’t foolish, but if He were to become the most foolish He can ever become, He would still be wiser than the wisest man. So much for common sense then, huh?
I don’t know, however, what we should be doing while we’re trusting God for one thing. I’m having the same issue myself.
Personally I will say lack of faith, although the bible says without faith it is impossible to please God. Let us all remember the story of Sarah. Sarah lacked faith/unbelief when the angel spoke to her that she was going to give birth, eventhough she was praying to God about it when the angel spoke to her she laughed at the angel/she doubted but God’s will for her life came to pass with her unbelief/lack of faith.
Even with our unbelief/lack of faith, God will still answer our prayers but we just don’t know how long and when it will take for that plan A to come through.
Personally, I will pray to God about plan A, I will offer thanksgiving about plan A and even prophecy about plan A at all times. I will also keep praying for the manifestation of plan A.
For plan B, I will need God to tell me if that’s the right thing for me or because of being a doubting Thomas, perhaps that’s why I came up with plan B. The bible says we should not lean on our own understanding and we should let him guide our paths, I will wait to hear God’s voice, if God thinks plan B is the right way to go.
Just D, Hhhhmm dis is a very practical topic. I will say u have classifed them accordingly. Lack of faith, unbelief (in the first place is not trust at all), common sense but at the end of the day u find the sense is not so common. Lets go back to the Case of Abram and Sarai they trusted God for a child and Sarah brought a Plan B which Abram Hearkened to at the end of the day Plan B gave them a Plan B result, Yes though they got the child but wot is the consequences that we have now as a result of that Plan B option( Fighting, divisions,wars here and there, muslim vs xtian).
I have had situations wer I have had no option but to trust God to the end and he came thru for me believe me it was at the last minute wer I was to know the result that I saw God was faithfull. I trusted fully bcos there was no other option, no Plan B could be made. But there are other situations wer I have trusted God and still made Plan B believe me thats simply unbelieve bcos it makes the wait even longer. If God has said it, he will do it. But to get to that point of Absolute trust we just need to pray earnestly for his Grace.
Some causes of trials & sufferings:
1. An imperfect world – Every other cause stems from the facts of an imperfect world and the fall of man. Gen 3:14-19, Psm 51:5, Jn 9:1-3, 34; Eccl 3:1-8, Rom 5:12-21, Job 14:1-2, Rom 3:23
2. Direct consequences of sin – Every sinful undertaking (lying, stealing, criminal activities, fraud etc) carries a negative repercussion to both the sinner and often times to others who may not have sinned – Prov 5:7-11, Prov 11:31, Gal 6:7-8, Eccl 4:1, Rom 6:23, 1 Pet 4:15-16
3. Satanic attacks – Activities of Satan and his cohorts of principalities, demons, and other foul spirits result only in fulfilling their ‘KSD ministry’ – kill, steal and destroy. Believers are therefore engaged in constant warfare with the powers of evil. Eph 6:10-12, 2 Cor 10:3-5, 1 Pet 5:8, Jas 4:7
4. Persecution – These are the sufferings and hardships that believers undergo on account of their witness and right living for Christ. Ironically, one would expect that every right action (e.g. refusal to co-operate in fraudulent activities) should be valued by other people but this is not always the case since not all people love the truth. 2 Tim 3:12, Acts 9:1-5, 1 Pet 4:13-14, Mt 5:10-12 1 Cor 15:9, Jn 15:20
5. The mistakes and wrong decisions of individual Christians – In this case believers (like every other person) can suffer when they inadvertently do things the wrong way (not sinful actions) – Prov 3;13-18, Psm 19:12, 2 sam 6:5-7 (Num 4:15-20)
6. The mistakes and wrong decisions of other people – this emphasises the concept of racial and family solidarity which connects people in one form of relationship or the other. Consequently, the actions (or inactions) of someone will have impacts on others with whom they are connected; for example parents and their children or employees within an organisation. 2 Sam 24:10-17, Josh 7:1-11,
7. Factors beyond human understanding and control – e.g. natural disasters. This is the reason to lean and depend on the God who sees and knows all things. Deut 29:29, Mt 24:4-8
Conclusion: No one in the world can avoid difficulties in one form or the other – it is part of living on this side of eternity. God therefore allows his Children to go through these challenges as part of the training and preparation for heaven. May we experience the transformation that is possible through the agency of trials…amen
Trials make us grow:
The present imperfect world has trials, problems and sufferings as integral facets. The Lord allows His children to experience these as mechanisms for spiritual growth and character development. Judges 2:20 – 3:1-2; Jh 16:33; I Pet 4:12-14; Psalms 34:18-19; II Cor. 1:3-11; Rom 8:17, 28-29; 5:3-4; James 1:2-4; I pet 1:7; Prov. 24:10, Heb 5:8-9.
Some examples: Joseph (Gen 39: 20-22), Daniel (Dan 6:16-23), Jeremiah (Jer. 38:6), Paul (II Cor. 11:23-27), Shadrach and Co. (Dan. 3: 1-26).
What then shall we do?
A positive attitude towards difficulties and co-operation with the Holy Spirit are vital to deriving the transformation and ‘blessings’ of sufferings.
Phil 2:13; Eph 4:23; Rom 12:1-2; Phil 2:12-13; Prov. 4:23; Rom 8:15, 17-18; Jer. 29:11; Gen 50:20; Isa. 38:17; Heb 12:10, 2; 11:26; II Cor. 4:17, I Thess. 5:18: James 1:2-4.
Let us all remember the story of Job, when he was going through trials, God said that he will not die. I believe that as long as we are still alive, God’s purpose for our life will come through…the saying when there is life there is hope. It’s easier said than done but I know that when the manifestation of our prayers come, we will understand why God has allowed us to go through trials/wait for our blessings.
How do we manifest the fruit of the spirit ‘patience’ when we do not experience the cause to wait or how do we testify when we haven’t been through any test.
My prayer is that God will continue to hear the cry of his children, he will never forsake us or leave us, even while we wait for the manifestation of our prayers, he will grant us to patience to wait, to trust in him and not in any other gods and we will hearken to his Word whenever he speaks to us.
It is lack of faith, even though my practical self would like to say its common sense ( I am also guilty)
God I believe you, help my unbelief
A lot has been said but my conscience won’t let me keep quiet on such a topic as this. I have experienced a lot on both sides ranging from not having plan B to having plan B. I have also experienced the plan driven by unbelief, common sense and lack of faith. All of these are possible and people have done justice to them in previous comments. However I wish to introduce a dimension to all of this. Your so-called plan A which you are believing God for is what you want, have you found out if it is what God wants for you? I have ended up in scenarios where the so-called plan B happened to be God’s purpose eventually. So the question is if it is very certain the plan A is God’s purpose as in the case of Abraham and Sarah, any other plan B will fall into the said categories in your question. However as human beings, most of the time our wants and desires are the things we want to believe God will do. So is it His will or ours being done? The key is to do enough dilligence to find what His purpose is and stick to it. We must also be humble enough to accept when we miss this as practice makes perfect. No one on earth can claim to have 100% mastery of this. I rest…
I like what Niyi said. A lot of times we want to say “God told us to do something.” But first we have to search within ourselves, “did God really say?”
I am learning more and more on how to hear from Him, how to just be still, and just go with the flow of the Holy Spirit. God works in so many mysterious ways and He works with each of us in different ways. A plan B might not necessarily be a plan B, it might just be that the time for plan A has not yet come and it would be better to do plan B at that point.
One very important thing with God is “timing.” He will not come one second early or one second late, He’ll come only at the right time…the best time.
Dear Friends,
I think we hv done well bt lets nt miss the topic@ Niyi it says if u r trusting God for something and u start making Plan B. The issue is not about Gods plan A. its abt u desiring something and trusting God will do. Do u rather hold on and wait for him to do it, or try to help him in ur own way do it.
@lafunky so much research wow!
*Vera; that’s the million dollar question – “what should we be doing while we’re trusting God for one thing?”…keep trusting? praying? nothing?…hmmmm.
*Lafunky; waoh! awesome research u’ve done here, I see this is a topic that is dear to u for some reason…thanks for all the info…
*Anonymous; I see the point with ur analogy…”If God has said it, He will do it”…I beleive that, but what if God hasn’t said anything?
*Olufunke; Amen!
*Niyi; “most of the time our wants and desires are the things we want to believe God will do. So is it His will or ours being done?”…hmmmmmmmmmmmm, I see ur point…but where’s the place of seeing something GOOD and desiring it, and subsequently asking God for it? but then, bcos it’s good doesn’t mean it’s God’s will right?
*Jaycee; I love ur concluding statement…God’s timing…so, so true…
*Anonymous2; u hit the nail on the head regarding my question…however, I do get where some of the other commenters are coming from, in the sense that what I consider a plan B may actually be what God wants for me, and not even that which I desire in the first instance…
PS; God cannot be helped…we need not even try…
***Thanks so much people, I’ve learnt so much from ur comments already, and received fresh insight…u guys rock!
Thank you sis Doyin and everyone. This topic is very dear to my heart indeed. I just pray that the Lord Almighty will answer our prayer and prayers of those that cry to him. He is a faithful God.
Please take a critical look at Prov 19:21 and read in many translations for full understanding. When we see something we want and ask God for it, there is nothing wrong with that. However there is no guarantee we will get it(hard truth isn’t?). That scripture says it is God’s counsel that will prevail eventually, hence the need to find out if what we want coincides with God’s plan A or not. If it does, then we can go to sleep after asking because no demon from hell can stop it(remember Daniel). However if it doesn’t coincide with God’s plan A, even if we cry and wail, God won’t do it because He has a better deal for us. Lets look at an example….Jesus asked that the cup pass over Him, but He then said nevertheless, your will be done.(applying prov 19:21) Eventually, He drank the cup because that was the father’s will.
@Anonymous: The original question cannot be answered strightaway without first considering the circumstances i.e. if what we are asking is His will…and also other factors like timing which earlier comments have analysed. Hope this blesses someone.
wow… see different levels of elucidation /..
i think the person that does what you described…has can have all those options mixed up….and really one of the options equals any of the other options..
faith is packing all your eggs and putting them in Gods basket.. if he does’t come through for us..we pick ourselves up, tell him “God you let me down” do some soul searching.. .. thank Him.. and move on from there..
Lack of faith and unbelief are pretty much the same thing and so my answer will be lack of faith and unbelief. I like what Jaycee said, I so agree but I disagree with Lafunky on the part where he/she said that even though we doubt/lack faith, have unbelief God will still answer our prayers.
Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. When you were a child and you did wrong, yet came to your parents wanting something, did your parents ever give you that thing you were requesting from them? This leads me to my second point, lack of faith, unbelief is SIN. Alot of people think they can sin and still have God as their God. Jesus Christ is Holy, He has no tolerance for sin whatsoever and He can NOT sit on your heart where sin dwells. Rememeber because God is love HE MUST therefore HATE. Sin separates a person from God! Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 59:2 and Matthew 6:14-15. When a person lacks faith or has unbelief what that person is outrightly saying point-blank is “God I do not believe you are God. I do not trust you to handle my life.”
My final point is found in James 1:6-8. The Bible is the Word of God, He Himself said that those who doubt (have lack of faith/unbelief/uncertainty) should NOT expect anything from Him. God’s words and not mine.
The story of Sarah was mentioned but if we study the New Testament we will find that God promised Abraham and NOT Sarah and it was credited to Abraham as righteousness because of his FAITH. James 2:14-24
Just read Anonymous’ comment.
Having a Plan B is you trying to be in control of your life and again leads me back to what I said above about having lack of faith in God. God is God and He does not need our help and trying to help is telling Him you don’t think He knows what He is doing. There are many examples in the Bible and in the day-to-day life where people have prayed to God about something and instead of them surrending all over to Him and wait patiently, they come up with Plan B, take matters into their own hands and it all leads to disaster. Hagar was Sarah’s plan B and well….we’re still seeing the consequences of that plan even today!
Having faith means total surrender, no reservations, no plan B or Plan C but you just believeing that “ok, I’ve prayed to God about so and so and believe that He has heard me and I trust that even if His answer is NO, I trust that HE knows whats best for me.”
Rememeber that you are a human being, made of flesh. God made you from the dust, you did not make God, so trying to take control of your own life or even trying to help Him “just a little bit” is pointless. Trust me, I’ve been there and it just proved to be pointless. It just makes the wait longer.
Read Isaiah 40:12-31……why would you now want to help God out in any way?
Theres a proverb that says “there is a way that seems right to man but its end is destruction.”
Theres another scripture in the Bible that says “unless the LORD builds the house, its builder labours in vain”…..like what I said above about me having had my own plan B’s in the past over for them to have been diasterous. Simply trust and wait on God. Psalm 25:3 says that those who wait/hope/trust in Him have never, will never and can never be put to shame.
Wow!!! …most refreshing. Hmmm, what more can be (un)added. The post and the comments are enough to bring us back to a consciousness that, ’tis very easy to cultivate (albeit unconsciously) lack of faith and justify it in multiple ways.
Be that as it may, i believe this has simply brought to our conscious understanding that while we are very free to have desires and wants, ’tis expedient for us to seek God’s face concerning this desire or want and be sure it will be in ‘line’ with God’s ultimate purpose for our lives.
For as one comment above says, the A we are trusting God for may simply not fit into His purpose for our lives, so, if i dare ask,
“Will God give us something that will not enhance His purpose for our lives, just because we asked (continually & consistently) in faith?”
I always thought having a plan B in everything is smart …….ever heard of the proverb ” never put your eggs in one basket”??
I think the answer i would have chosen is confusion. Because as adults our minds are trained to ask questions. @ private, pls note that questions does not mean doubts, it just means we need a bit more info. But as christians we realise that we dont always get the info , we just have to wait n see. But God understands and look at our hearts n see that our confused mind is not because we dont trust or believe in him but simply because