Following God’s plan and God’s ways does not always make sense at first. Let me explain; I am sure it made little sense for a man named Abraham to pray and pray that God would give he and his wife a son, and then for God to decide to wait until Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 to bring that about. But that was exactly how God did it. God has a way of doing things that remove any doubt about it just happening by chance. Furthermore, I am sure it didn’t make much sense for God to tell Abraham, after all those years of waiting for this child, to take him up on the mountain and offer him up as a sacrifice. I’ll tell you something; Abraham had far more faith than me. Even though it didn’t make sense, Abraham followed God's instructions to the letter. It was never God’s intention to take back the child of promise, but God needed to see that Abraham’s heart was fully committed. From there Abraham was able to do all that God called him to do.
These examples of God calling people to a plan which on the surface doesn’t seem to make much sense are numerous, and when we see the saints of old following God’s plan we see the essence of true faith. Many a follower of Christ, you and I included, have been called by God to levels of faith and a plan which at times doesn’t appear to make much sense. But listen; God’s plan doesn’t have to make sense. It just has to be followed!
The scripture says that the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said to him, “Go ahead and take Mary as your wife. Don’t fear this, but go forward with the plan, for I have a greater plan – that baby she is carrying is conceived of the Holy Spirit (paraphrase mine).” The challenge for you and I today is to follow God’s plan for us.
I contend that when we are faithful God’s plan will be revealed – just as it was to Joseph. Maybe not in a dream or a vision (that would be nice sometimes), but the plan will be made known to us. For Joseph, this made no sense – until he placed all of his faith in God. Following God’s plan always requires faith; faith that is not based on circumstances or the here and now, but based upon the faithfulness of God. For the believer, the words, “Thus saith the Lord,” have great significance.
Like Joseph, when we trust the Lord and believe upon Him, He will continually give us assurance that we are where we are supposed to be. Over and over again God continued to demonstrate to Joseph that was right where he was supposed to be, even though at the start the entire ordeal made no sense whatsoever. God did that for Joseph, and He will do the same for us.
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