If the Lord Wills

Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 22:3, Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.”

I am afraid that far too often we make plans for the future with such certainty that we forget that tomorrow is not guaranteed. We make OUR plans, and forget that God should be the One who determines what the plan is and how it is going to play out. David, in spite of having to run for his life, is not remiss in acknowledging that God must be part of his plans going forward. He is dutiful in making sure to honor his father and mother by making sure they are well taken care of before he continues down that path of preserving his own life. However, in his attempts and plans to survive, he makes it clear that God is the One in whom he will need to depend on when he states, “Till I know what God will do for me.” David’s statement was not just a bunch of lip services as we read verse 5 of this chapter, which states, “Now the prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.’ So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.” David left his stronghold only after hearing God’s instructions by way of the Prophet Gad. For us today, we have the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to guide us along the path God has set for us. In our attempts to live out God’s plan, as we plan for the future, we must rely heavily on prayer, God’s Word, and the leading of the Spirit. James said it best when he wrote this in James 4:13-17, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” David did whatever good he could do for the moment, which in this case was to make sure his father and mother were well taken care of. He left the future for the Lord to decide. In making sure that his parents’ needs were met, he was being obedient to the Lord’s command to honor father and mother (Exodus 20:12). If we were to stop right now and examine our plans for today, tomorrow and the years to come, would we be able to honestly say that we prayed about those plans before we made them? Would we be able to say that we have left room for God to change those plans? Did we make our plans in pencil and give God the eraser? A good test for whether we really included God in our plans is the attitude we have when things change and do not work out exactly how we planned them. If we get angry and throw a pity party because something we planned was changed, and we seem to hold on to the disappointment and bitterness, then we would have to conclude that the plans were really ours and God was not included in our thinking and planning. We must make it a habit to always pray, seek God’s guidance, then as we discuss those plans remember that those plans should always be finalized with, “Lord willing”, and mean it. God desires the best for us, but He is the One who knows what is truly best for us as we live out this short life here on earth.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).