Do you set up an alternate plan should God fail? Do you think that God “needs our help” when it comes to His promises?
I’m very guilty of setting up an alternate plan should the promises of God “fall through.” I use to do this in the big areas of my life that mattered, such as health, finances, career path, etc. My mindset was basically this: “in the little areas of my life, I’ll have faith, but when it comes to this particular area, I’ve got to make sure I have a Plan B.”
This isn’t a new thing, as many other Christians have used this exact same methodology. Even the great patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah had the same mentality with regard to the promise of a son. This is how God’s promise to Abraham went down:
“Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.” Genesis 12:7 NKJV
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“And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are— northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” Genesis 13:14-15 NKJV
Now Abraham had faith in the Lord, but only up to a point. The idea of an heir coming from him was a bit too much for him to handle, and so he made a Plan B of his own:
“But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”” Genesis 15:2-3 NKJV. Now God, being the God that he is, wanted to get very specific with his promise to Abraham, “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”” Genesis 15:4 NKJV.
I bet Abraham’s mindset was this: “ OK, it has to come from my body, so I’ll wait around for a while, but I may have to Plan B this one as well.”
Now, Abraham had no problem leaving his land as he was used to the nomadic life, but this promise was something new, especially when he applied his reasoning to his current circumstances. “My wife and I are old, but God said that my heir would come from my own body,” and through his lack of faith in the Lord as well as prompting from his wife, who may have also been dealing with a shortage of faith, hatched another “Plan B:”
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.” Genesis 16:1-2 NKJV.
Hey, all the pieces fit, right? The promise of God was fulfilled, the heir came from his own body, and with a little human intervention and alternate planning, I helped God out. But there was no faith, and the consequences of the Plan B would have lasting effects, even up to this day.
Christians deal with a duality of nature, not from the sense of a eastern mind set (yin-yang), but in the sense that we deal with the old man and the new creation cohabiting together until our death (Romans 7). The old man in us says “it’s OK to have faith, but up to a point, then we need to help God out.” When we listen to him (the old man), our faith dwindles, and areas of our health, finances, career path, etc. suffer. We stop believing in God‘s provision and we set up our own Plan B. Our alternative plans could work, but they will never see the perfection of God is pure and perfect plan for each and every Area of our lives.
I will speak to the areas of health in my own situation. I have had instances where major health issues have popped up, many of which you don’t know, but has only been shared with my wife. I knew what God‘s promises were in this area and both of us came into agreement on those promises, not praying for health, but standing on his promises of being healed in the areas that I needed. It was a struggle at first, as I wanted to create contingencies should God fail, but I had to get over that and stand on what he has said so many times in the New Testament. In doing so, I encountered resistance, but I resisted and I came through victorious in every situation.
This is my example, and mine alone, and I am not suggesting that you dump your pills or forgo seeing a health specialist, but you have to take a stand on faith. Find out what God says in those areas where you want to make a Plan B (health, finances, career path, etc.), and stand.
