Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
All of God’s children have probably made the mistake of trying to “get ahead of God” or outthink Him in some manner. Especially in the early and more formative years after accepting Christ as their Savior.
Naturally, many learn fairly quickly that one simply should never try to speed things up and get ahead of God’s plan.
Unfortunately, some take a lot longer to learn this lesson.
YES, I'VE BEEN THERE
Here is one example of trying to “get ahead of God” that I know well.
Matthew 24:36 KJV
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
It happened back in the day of the “second coming” revolution. Authors like Hal Lindsay and others wrote book after book making predictions about Christ’s return. Lindsay wrote “The Late Great Planet Earth” which was read by millions.
A couple of other authors even predicted the day and year that Christ would make His return. Obviously, those dates have long since passed and God’s Word remains true.
When those millions of books were being sold, can it not be said that the buyers did not believe and trust what God had told us in His word, when Jesus said that no man knows the day nor the hour of the Lord’s return?
In this, I personally have to plead guilty, as I got caught up in the act and read Lindsay’s “The Late Great Planet Earth” along with a few other books on the subject.
In my view, this is an example of not trusting what God has told us and going on a wild goose chase to find the answer for ourselves.
However, I’m confident that everyone who bought the books seeking the answers they hoped to find, would argue passionately against the idea that they were not trusting God.
In my case, it didn’t take long after getting caught up in this for God to firmly inform me that trying to determine the date of the second coming is not only above my pay grade, but it is of no importance or help to my Christian life and spiritual growth. And yes, God can be firm when it is needed.
The moral of the above is this.
When God tells us something, we are to believe Him and place our faith and trust in Him and His promises.
We must never try to out-think or get ahead of God and always realize that God’s time or timing is not our time or timing and that He has a purpose for all things.
PATIENCE IS A STRENGTH THAT GOD CAN GIVE US
When we are not sure what God is telling us, we must learn to be patient and pray for God to lead, guide and direct us in the direction that is best for us.
When we are facing one of “life’s storms”, we must not get ahead of God. We must trust Him and patiently wait for what He has to give.
Romans 8:25 KJV
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
James 1:3 KJV
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
It is easy for humans to think we know what is best for us.
Yes, God wants us to think for ourselves, but He also wants us to depend upon Him.
In all major decisions that we must make, we should make sure that we don’t get ahead of God and that we seek His direction and guidance.
When we consider a job.
When we consider changing jobs.
When we consider buying a house.
These are just a few examples of decisions that we often make without collaboration with God.
Does this mean that they all will be a flop? Not necessarily, because God may have planned for the exact same result. But in this case, we should consider ourselves very fortunate, however we likely missed out on a lesson that God had in store for us.
One of the greatest lessons and habits that we secure as we mature in Christ, is the need to take all things to God in prayer. He has our best interest at heart, and we should seek His direction for our lives.
In doing this we must always keep in mind that our timetable is not always the same as God’s timetable and we should not get ahead of Him in any way.
A PERSONAL LESSON
I will close with another personal story.
We looked for several years for a place with some acreage to raise our children. We had one place that we really wanted, but it wasn’t for sale and there were several family members that would have wanted the property. This was our “dream place”, but we accepted the fact that we’d never be able to buy this home.
In the following years, we went to see many places, and in each case, something wasn’t quite right. We finally reached the point where we would have accepted a place where everything wasn’t what we really wanted.
Then I received a telephone call. The lady on the other end of the line asked me if we were still interested in the house and acreage that we had asked about a few years earlier (our “dream place”). I said “yes, absolutely” and we made arrangements to see the property. I called my wife and said I’ve got good news but you’d better sit down.
We were at the point of jumping ahead of God and we are so glad we didn’t.
Remember, God has a purpose in all things and a lesson for us in each purpose.
Wait upon the Lord.
RVH