Have you ever made a plan? Have you ever made a plan and it went off course; it just didn't turn out as you expected? Have you ever made plans for your life and they went way off course, terribly so? God has a plan for your life and Satan does too. Your plans are being influenced by One or the other.
I had a dream this morning. In that dream my family and I were on a highway heading home, but there was all kinds of construction going on and slowing down our way. Just as we got up to the thick of the construction everything stopped. We would not be able to continue for maybe an hour or so. The driver of our car decided to get out of the lane and turn around and take a different route rather than wait for the construction workers to fill in the holes ahead of us so that we could continue safely on our way.
Along the way of this new route, our driver got word that recommended he stop and have a mechanic do some alterations to the engine. He agreed, but this meant we needed a place to stay while the engine was being altered. In the dream I had a sister who didn't live too far away and she welcomed us to come and stay while the alterations were being made. (The word "alterations" is deliberately being used instead of repairs.) This sister lived in a rough neighborhood. As we entered the area we saw all kinds of sinful and unsavory enticements and evidence of crime. We were dropped off and our driver, the only adult/mature male who had been with us, left and went to see about the car.
Shortly after we had gotten to my sister's home there was a knock on the door. I opened the door as everyone else was meeting and greeting and getting settled. There was a young man at the door between the age of twenty and twenty-five years old. He was asking for $40. It wasn't clear to me why. That was a lot of money to me. I only had $80 and I needed it for our journey. The man begged me to give him $40 and said if he didn't go back with the $40 he would be killed. I agreed to give it to him, but told him to come back in a little bit and I'd have it for him. As I turned back into the house and share what had just occurred with my family I got various responses, as you can imagine. But I had a sense of foreboding. I had a sense of being drawn into a plan.
My nephews who were with us thought it all a game. My sisters were outraged. I was puzzled, internally inquiring. The young man came back a few minutes later and knocked again. At this time I was wishing our driver was back so that he could have dealt with the young man instead of me. I wanted the young man to see that there weren't just women and children in the house at that time. So I sent my three young adult nephews to answer the door as if to say, "We do have some men in the house." It was the wrong move. Instead of them guarding us, they were taken in by the stranger and enticed by him. They encouraged me to give him the $40 and wanted to go along with him to see what he was going to do with it. In fact, my nephews left and headed up the street to "check things out" and left the stranger at the door to get the money from me. As I was listening to the stranger making his plea again, I watched as my three nephews, who probably felt safe in their numbers began to walk up the street, one of them was holding a baby in his arms.
The stranger added to his request if I could give him additional funds to buy a drink from McDonald's and put on quite an act of "woe is me". I told him no about the additional funds and because I was distracted by what was transpiring with my nephews I couldn't go back into the house to get the $40 right then. I changed my focus and started yelling out to my nephews to get back in the house. There was a sense of urgency in me to get them back in the house. I told the stranger to come back in ten minutes. In my peripheral vision I saw the stranger begin to skulk away, then he straightened up and walked away with a smile on his lips. His countenance had changed. I saw a devious look about him.
I managed to get my nephews to listen to me and they turned around and came back in the house. A feeling of relief washed over me. I felt as though we'd just averted a disaster. I stood at the door for awhile praying, meditating. When I turned to go back in, I saw that my nephews had been and were being physically and verbally chastised by their mothers. They hadn't a clue. While two out of the three were still in a rear room being chastised, the other was sitting on the couch in the living room crying and looking at me and asking me, "Why? What's the big fuss about?" As I started to explain to him about the devil and his schemes, the stranger came back, this time bolder than ever. I told him I would give him the money because I promised I would and asked him if he worked? "No," he said, "he did not." I told him how hard I had to work for that little bit of money and mentioned that he could have washed some windshields or cut some one's lawn or something of the sort to earn money. Now he became belligerent, angry and I saw that he had a gun. He threatened me and told me he could kill me. I had every intention of giving him the money; I just wanted to deposit a little more than just money into his life.
He became unreasonably irate. I said to him, "Sir, you can shoot me and kill this body, but you can't kill my soul. If you were to kill me now, I would then be with my Savior. You can't do anything to me unless my Father allows you to." Then I said, "Jesus loves you." I gave him the money and turned and went back in the house.
When I went back in the house my nephews were a little more inclined to listen to what I had to say. I shared the following with them: "God has a plan for your life, but Satan does too and Satan's plan is to entice you and destroy you. God says, 'Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood...' My sons, listen to your fathers' instructions. Broad is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to life..." "My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave." Then I woke up.
As I awoke I cried out to Jesus and kept repeating His name: "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; the blood of Jesus." I prayed for my nephews. I turned to Ephesians and read chapter 6:10-20. I then turned to Proverbs and read chapters 1, 2 and 3. Repeatedly Solomon said, "My son; listen my son. My son, if you accept my words... My son, do not forget my teaching..."
Some of the passages that stood out to me were: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" (Proverbs 1:7). "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck Proverbs 1:8-9).
"My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. If they say, 'Come along with us...we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot with us...my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood" (Proverbs 1:10-16).
"For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me (wisdom) will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm" (Proverbs 1:32-33).
"My son, if you accept my words and store up my command within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then, you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God..." (Proverbs 2:1-5)
"My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man" (Proverbs 3:1-5).
The plan: In this dream, Satan's plan was to turn us off course and destroy our young men- but God! God intervened. God had a different plan. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28-29).
Our vision is limited. We can see but so far. But God who is high and lifted up, sees all. As one who can see the bigger picture from an aerial view or from a plane, God sees infinitely more from his view enthroned on high. We are also so very impatient when circumstances arise which can influence us to divert off our godly course. But thank God for his faithfulness, his love and his plan.
"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord.
'As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"
~ Isaiah 55:8-9
