GENESIS 11-16 OUR PLANS ARE NOT GOOD2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Genesis 11-16 Our Plans Are Not Good

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021. Well, as we look at the book of Genesis this morning, I must share the warning up front. Today's message is going to be very hard to believe.

Today's message, it's one of those messages that is really challenging for us. It's not one that just comes easy for us. We just say, oh yeah, I know that. Great, no problem. But this is one of those things that we will wrestle with. It will be a struggle for us to believe. I have a hard time believing this message many times and I have to be reminded to come back and trust the Lord at his word.

There's so many times I have to convince myself this is the truth. What is this message today? Well, I've titled the message, Our Plans Are Not Good. Our Plans Are Not Good.

This is a message that we need to believe because, well, of course, as we think about that title, as we think about that concept, I think we would have no problem agreeing with that for the moment, right? But then 10 minutes later, when we come up with a good idea, we come up with a good plan and we're convinced, all right, I've got a good plan. I've got a good course. I know what we need to do. And we forget all of a sudden,

Our plans are not good. I don't think we wrestle with it theologically, but we wrestle with it in practice. It's difficult for us to believe in practice and for us to continue to look to the Lord for his plans, for his will, and for his counsel. As we look through Genesis and looking over the chapters that we read this week,

As we're going through the Bible now in three years again, starting over from the beginning, refreshed and renewed in all of these accounts of the things that took place in the beginning and in the things that man went through and that God developed in the midst of it. In the reading this past week, I noticed that pattern of man's plans, our plans, the things that we come up with and how the Lord had different plans, but

Well, we chose to take our course. And so we're going to consider a few different plans this morning, looking at Genesis chapter 11, chapter 12, chapter 13, and then chapter 16 to get a glimpse of some of these plans and to help us seek the Lord for his plans instead of our own. And so here in Genesis chapter 11, we get the first point this morning. Point number one is our self-centered plans are not good.

Our self-centered plans are not good. Verses 1 and 2 again in Genesis chapter 11 says this, Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they dwelt there.

Here as we work our way through Genesis now, we find ourselves a little bit after the flood. It's not too long after the flood has taken place. The whole earth has one language, of course, because the whole earth now is being repopulated from one family, from Noah and his sons. And so now they're one big family. They all have the same language. They all come from the same lineage.

And they're sticking together. It describes there in verse 2 that they were journeying together from the east. And as they did, they found a plain in the land of Shinar. Now, this is in the area of modern-day Iraq. And this place,

situation here, the Tower of Babel that they're going to be working on is in the location that we would call Babylon today. And so here we find them journeying together. They're all together. They have one language. They know how to communicate. They know how to talk to one another. They're traveling together and they make a decision together there in the plains of Shinar. In verse 2, it tells us as they journeyed, they found a plain and they dwelt there.

The focus is on this group of people and what they did. In fact, in verses 2, 3, and 4, there's going to be at least 12 references to themselves. We see they, they, they in verse 2. Then in verse 3, it says, then they said to one another, come let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone. They had asphalt for mortar.

So we see them referring to themselves, talking to themselves, making decisions together about themselves. Then verse 4, This whole situation being described here is self-centered.

This group is focused on themselves and they are seeking to accomplish something for themselves. They want to make a name for themselves. And so they're going to now build this city and build this tower to the heavens. Now, what's the problem with this situation and with the Tower of Babel as a whole? There's some discussion that we could have in regards to that.

it's very likely that this is the beginning of false religion, that this tower is not so much about the height, but a tower from which they would observe the heavens and worship the heavens. This is possibly, you know, where the beginnings of astrology began and that kind of thing. And so much of false religion is rooted in the things that have come out of Babylon and Babel.

But the situation is in verse 4 that they're saying, let us make a name for ourselves. The situation is that they are concerned about themselves and they want to establish themselves in a way that puts the focus on them. Again, it's self-centered. The commentator Matthew Poole puts it this way.

They take no care for God's name, but merely out of pride and vain glory, labor to erect an everlasting monument of their wit and wealth and magnificence. They're wanting to build a name for themselves, build a monument for themselves. And they go on to say in verse 4, lest we be scattered abroad the face of the whole earth. Now I can understand the desire to not be scattered abroad.

you know, think about, you know, moving on. Gathering together, there's a lot of benefits as we gather together as a community, right? There's a lot of benefits and a lot of advantages. And scattering abroad and, you know, as the families spread out, there's going to be some challenges and difficulties and dangers. I can understand the desire to not be scattered, but God had given them instruction previously in Genesis chapter 9, right?

The Lord told Noah to multiply and fill the earth. He wanted them to fill the earth, to spread out, to scatter and populate the earth. And here man is attempting to defy the Lord. This is an act of rebellion. And they're saying, no, we don't want to scatter. We don't want to spread out. We want to gather together and we want to make a name for ourselves.

It's self-centered. It's focused on themselves. Now, there's all this they, they, they, we, we, we, ourselves, right? That's going on. And so there was this group decisions that were being made. There's some unity that is being displayed. And at the same time, I would challenge that perhaps the unity was not quite as it seemed. Because we learn from Genesis chapter 10, verses 8 through 10, that there was a man named Nimrod.

And Nimrod, it says that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord, or it could also be translated against the Lord, that he was potentially fighting against God, and it was his kingdom that began at Babel. And so, although it says they, they, they, we, we, we, it's possible that Nimrod was

pardon me for saying this, the first politician, right? He's organizing this situation to establish his kingdom. And that there is this agenda that he has to accomplish, and he's enlisting all of this group of people as they are moving along to accomplish a kingdom for himself.

And so whether it's Nimrod leading it or whether it's the group, you know, all voting unanimously, it is self-centered in this course that they are taking. Verse 5 tells us, But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, Indeed, the people are one, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

And so it goes on to tell us that God is going to change their languages so that they no longer speak the same language. He's going to scatter them across the earth so that they will be populating the earth in all the various regions. Now you can look at this and wonder, why would God do this? It seems like progress is being made, right? As we consider this today, I mean, there's

This is one thing that so many people want so desperately for all of the world to be together and to speak the same language and to understand each other and to work together on the same thing. Like if that was to happen today, you know, the majority of the world would rejoice in that. Why would God hinder progress? But the challenge for us to consider in that is that it's not progress when it's not God's plan.

As much as we would celebrate this kind of unity, it's not progress when it's not God's plan. And sometimes the worst thing for us is for our plan to work. Sometimes the worst thing for us is for us to be established in the course that we want to go and that we've determined to go.

And God understands what is going on here. He understands the dangers and the harm that will come ultimately to this people if they succeed in what they're endeavoring to do. And God says, you know what? They need to learn to trust in me and not themselves. And so he's going to confuse their languages and scatter them for their own good because it would be worse for them otherwise. And that's something for us to take note of. You can expect God to scatter you

Whenever you pursue a plan that is not his, you can expect confusion and scattering. When you pursue a course that is not from the Lord, that is not what God has for you, because that may be the worst thing that could ever happen to you for God to allow your plan to come together. The enemy would love to use this to kind of put the thought in our head that God wants to keep good from us.

But no, every good and perfect gift is from above. God wants what's best for us. And our self-centered plans, they're not good for us. And so God will bring confusion. He will bring a scattering for our good.

The psalmist says in Psalm chapter 33 verse 10, The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. But the counsels of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Our plans won't last, but the Lord's plans will. Our self-centered plans are not good. The Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 30.

And he says through the prophet Isaiah, As the prophet Isaiah was addressing God's people, God calls them rebellious children. These rebellious children are seeking counsel, which typically we would understand to be a good thing, right? That's a wise thing to seek counsel from.

You're wrestling with situations. You're dealing with things that you don't fully understand how to address them. It's a good idea to talk to others around you, to talk to those who are, you know, wise in the Lord and have experience walking with the Lord. It's important to take counsel. And God says, my people are taking counsel. But the problem is they're not taking counsel of me. The problem is they're not asking my counsel.

They're thinking themselves. They're counseling together and coming up with ideas and there's wisdom in that. But they're failing that part of including God in the plans and including God in the course that is set. He says they devise plans in Isaiah chapter 30 verse 1, but not of my spirit that they may add sin to sin. They're making plans, but

Now at this time when Isaiah is prophesying to the children of Israel, there's threats coming against them. They're in danger. And so they're thinking that Egypt will be their strength, that they'll be able to be safe by making an agreement, a treaty with Egypt. But they haven't asked God for his advice on how to handle this situation.

And so God says, This morning as we think about the Tower of Babel, our self-centered plans, we need to understand they're not good. When we're making plans and decisions and setting a course that is about us and about ourselves and for our name, we need to be careful, we need to be wise and seek counsel,

God is not speaking against making plans. It's wise to make plans. It's good to make plans. But we must not leave God out of that process. We must look to him for advice. We must look to him for counsel. We must make plans that are by his spirit. And if we're left to our own devices, our self-centered plans will not be for our good.

Well, I want to continue to consider this concept in another situation now in Genesis chapter 12. And as we move on to Genesis chapter 12, it gives us point number two. Our self-preservation plans are not good. Our self-preservation plans are not good. Again, these are challenging things to think about.

These are hard things to believe many times. We come up with plans. We see things in advance. We see dangers and we come up with ways to defend ourselves and protect ourselves in the midst of that. And that's not wrong and that's not foolish. The Proverbs talk about the wise man seeing the danger ahead and hiding himself from the danger, but the fool just rushes on and meets destruction.

And so there is wisdom in looking ahead and understanding the dangers and addressing those dangers. But again, the issue here is that we need to include God in that process and find out his plan for addressing the danger, not just relying upon our own plans. Well, here in Genesis chapter 12, we're going to jump into verse 10. Looking at verses 10 through 12, here's what it says. Now, there was a famine in the land.

Verse 13. Verse 13.

and that I may live because of you. Here in Genesis chapter 12, we're picking up the account now of Abraham, and we see God call Abraham out of Ur, and he heads out with his father. He camps out in Haran for a while. He goes down now into the promised land, the land of Canaan. He hasn't promised it to Abraham yet here in chapter 12, but he's going to. But as he's there in the land that God showed him,

There's a famine that hits the land. And so in needing to address the provision for his family and take care of those who are with him, he comes up with a course. Here's what we need to do. There's famine in the land here. There's produce and refreshment in Egypt. And so he sets a course for Egypt. This is another area where there's much discussion. Did God want Abraham to go to Egypt? Did God want Abraham to go to Egypt?

It doesn't tell us for sure one way or the other here in the account. If Abraham was, you know, ignoring God or disobeying God. It's hard to say for sure if God wanted Abraham in Egypt or not. But we can say for sure the things that happen after this are really lapses of faith on Abraham's part. Because it tells us in verse 11, as they get close to Egypt, Abraham starts to get concerned.

It's often the case, right? We make a plan. It seems like a great plan. We head down the course. And then all of a sudden, as that plan starts to come together, we begin to get a little bit nervous because, you know, I didn't think this all the way through. I don't know actually if this is going to be good. And Abraham's concern is, my wife Sarai, she is beautiful. He tells her in verse 11, you are a woman of beautiful countenance. And that's going to cause some problems.

There's a threat now that Abraham is perceiving. In verse 12, it says, And so you see Abraham, he...

perceives a threat. As he gets closer, he realizes, oh man, it's not going to be as great as I thought. There's going to be some dangers because my wife Sarah is so beautiful. So what do we do about this threat? How do we handle this situation? I'm going to die, is what Abraham is thinking, because they will kill her so that, or they will kill me so that they can have her. And so he comes up with a solution in verse 13. He tells her, please say that you are my sister.

And then it will be well with me for your sake. And I'll live because of you. Now, there is a little bit of truth to the request there. Sarah is related to Abram. It's a half-truth as she's a half-sister. But in this declaration, you can see as you continue to read through the account, it's a deceitful approach to handle the threat that Abram perceived.

And this deceitfulness is rebuked later by Pharaoh. It's not what God intended. It's not what God desired. Even if God wanted Abraham to go to Egypt, even if that part was okay, this is not the way that God wanted Abraham to handle the danger, the situation that was going on. Pastor David Guzik says, Abraham's intent here was clearly to deceive and he trusted in his deception to protect him instead of trusting in the Lord.

He goes on to say, I think that's an interesting thought to consider. Abraham was like us in that he found it easier to trust in the far-off promises than the right-now needs.

We trust God for salvation, but for this situation that stands right in front of me, well, I have to use deceitfulness and scheming and sinful practices to address them because I don't trust God for my situation right now. I trust him for the things that are far off, but what about the things that I'm facing right now in this moment? And for Abraham, he trusted in his deception. He thought, all right, it's half true. I think we can pull this off. It's a good story.

In all of this, you can see Abraham is thinking about self-preservation. My life's in danger. Sarah, you'll be fine, right? Like they'll take care of you. They're going to kill me for you. You'll be fine. You'll be taken care of. But my life's in danger. There's a threat against me. But if you do this, if we enter into this with this deceitful practice, then it will be well with me, he says, for your sake. And I will live because of you.

Well, as you continue on in the account, you see everything went according to plan. It really unfolds just like Abraham anticipated. Sarai was beautiful and she was noticed by the Egyptians in verse 14. It says when he came to Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful. So the threat was not just in Abraham's imagination.

The danger here wasn't just something he, you know, was exaggerating or just, you know, to, you know, in his mind, he had, you know, made up this threat. But it was very real. Suddenly, it's the talk of the town. Have you seen that new guy, new girl? Boy, that Sarah, she is beautiful.

And Pharaoh did desire to have Sarai. It says in verse 15, the princess of Pharaoh saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. She begins to be a part of Pharaoh's house. She begins to be a part of his harem, perhaps. He doesn't actually marry her. There's no relationship, you know, physical yet. That is made clear later on in the passage. But she's right there.

It's like on the verge of. She's, whoa, there it goes. Yeah, you guys can just take it down. Let me grab my sunglasses then. So I'd like to introduce myself to you now. This is cool Jerry standing before you. So Pharaoh hears about Sarai's beauty and he says, you know what? Yeah, she needs to be part of my household. And as he adds her there, well, Abraham is taken care of for her sake.

And as all of this unfolds, Abraham could say, see, I knew it was going to happen this way. I told you so, right? I knew that. I knew this was going to take place. This is what I feared. This is what I anticipated. And as Abraham is treated well for her sake, he becomes even more wealthy as he's blessed because the sister of his is so beautiful. And again, Abraham could say, I knew it. The question that kind of leaves us asking though is, what's the next step in the plan, Abraham? Like,

As typical for us, right? We don't see the whole picture and we don't think through the whole picture. And when we come up with our plans, they're very limited in the scope. So what's his reunion plan? How is he going to be reunited with Sarai? And we don't know if he had that plan. We don't know. It might be that he was just like, okay, well, she's now Pharaoh's wife and I'm just going to be on my own and blessed with all these goods.

He might have at that point given up on their marriage, thinking that, well, we had to survive. We had to get out of the famine. We had to come down here. There was no other choice. And so we just had to be separated. We couldn't be married anymore. I had to let her go and be blessed in this way by the Egyptians.

It doesn't appear that Abraham had a next step for him and Sarai. Now God's going to intervene in the next couple verses. And he brings a plague on the house of Pharaoh. And Pharaoh finds out that Sarai is not just Abraham's sister, but that she is indeed his wife. And he says, what's wrong with you? I could have married her.

I almost did. I mean, she was in line to be a wife to me. And what's wrong with you? Why would you lie that way? That's wrong. And Pharaoh rebukes Abraham sharply in regards to this. It's not that the threat wasn't real. It's that your plan for addressing it is not very good. But also, the threat might not be real. That's something else to consider. Our self-preservation plans that we come up with, that we think through,

They might be related to things that are real dangers and real threats. But also we need to understand a lot of times we're worried about and concerned about and fearful of things that aren't going to take place, things that aren't going to happen. And so there is this danger that we perceive that is not a real danger, but it leads us down a course that God does not want us on. Pastor Tom Constable says this,

Fear sometimes leads us to seize the initiative and disobey God. We can count on God to fulfill his promise to us in spite of threatening circumstances. We should remain faithful and honest. Fear can lead us to take the initiative and to take a route that is not what God wants for us. But he says what we should do instead is remain faithful and honest and trust God.

Trust God instead of our plans and our ideas and our deceptions. To not let fear drive us to disregard what God has said, to disregard the will of God and plans of God, but instead to hold fast to the ways of the Lord. Our self-preservation plans are not good. They're not good for us and they're not good for the people around us.

We were just singing a few minutes ago, I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. And I pray that we would really take that to heart, that I'm no longer a slave to fear, that I wouldn't let fear drive me down courses to make plans that are not of God and that are not good for us. Whether the threats be real or imagined, we need to seek God for his plans in addressing those threats.

And not just rely upon our wisdom, our tactics, our techniques. Again, in Isaiah chapter 30, verse 1 and 2, God says, The lesson for us in looking at these examples is,

is to ask God for counsel, to hear his advice, to seek him as we make our plans. Not that we don't plan, not that we don't look ahead, not that we don't use wisdom, not that we don't seek counsel from others around us, but that we make sure to include the Lord in that and hear what he has to say. Give him opportunity to direct us in the path that he wants us to go because our self-centered plans are not good.

our self-preservation plans in your situation, whatever it might be. You know, we can take courses in our marriage. We can take courses in the workplace. We can take courses in our community and go down paths because, well, we need to protect ourselves. We need to protect our family. And we need to be careful that we don't just make our plans and not hear what God has to say about the matter. What does the Lord say? What does he want of you in the midst of that situation?

Well, moving on to Genesis chapter 13, we get point number three for this morning, and that is our selfish plans are not good. Our selfish plans are not good. In Genesis chapter 13, we see Abraham coming back from Egypt. He comes out of Egypt now with his wife, Sarah. She was restored to him. His nephew Lot is with them. They were blessed abundantly in Egypt, and so they come back into the land of Canaan,

And now there comes some issues between Abram's servants and Lot's servants. Look at verses 7 through 9 here in Genesis 13. It says, And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. And the Canaanites and Perizzites then dwelt in the land. So Abram said to Lot, Please, let there be no strife between you and me and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brethren.

Here the situation unfolds where Abraham and Lot, they're so blessed that

They're so wealthy. They have so much cattle, so many flocks that, well, they're getting crowded. And the servants of Abraham and the servants of Lot are starting to kind of, you know, rub each other the wrong way. And they're getting in fights and causing trouble and having issues. And so Abraham says, you know, maybe it's better for us to put a little distance here. So we're not, you know, rubbing each other the wrong way continually. And he does something really admirable here.

He gives Lot the first choice. He says, Lot, you choose. Let's put some distance between us. Hey, if you want to go to the right, then I'll go to the left. And if you want to go to the left, then I'll go to the right. He lets Lot pick the course, make the decision. Even though Abraham was most likely the elder and really, you know, Lot should have deferred the decision to him. Abraham is generous. He says, hey, it doesn't matter. I'll just go, you know, whichever direction you don't want to go.

And so here Lot is presented with this opportunity. What's he going to do? He has a decision to make. He has a plan, you know, to make a course that he can take. What's he going to do? How is he going to make this decision? It tells us in verse 10 how he made it. It says,

Verse 11. Lot has this decision to make. Abraham sets it before him. And how does he make his decision? It tells us he lifted up his eyes and he saw.

No indication that he sought the Lord, asked God for counsel. He was not asking God for advice. He saw how well watered that plain of Jordan was. And he says, you know what? That's going to be really great for me. It's a selfish plan that he makes. I'm going to benefit. This is going to be good for me. And so he decides to go in this direction. He walks by sight of

rather than by faith. Pastor David Guzik puts it this way, as much as anything, faith means we do not walk by what we see, but by what we know to be true in God. For we walk by faith and not by sight. Abraham was walking by faith, but Lot was only walking by sight. The challenge for us is to not just walk by what we see, what we can perceive, but

but to walk according to what we know to be true in God, to walk according to what God has declared. And when we look at a situation and see what's going to benefit me the most, when that's what we're looking for and that's our desire, it's a selfish plan that is not a faith. It's not a matter of trusting in God and resting in God's promises. It's very limited in its scope because we cannot see very much. It's one of the issues that we need to consider when making our plans.

They may look amazing and they may look very promising as we're making the plans, as we enter into the plans, but our plans are short-sighted. We can't see very far into the future. There's a lot of variables, a lot of things that we don't know about and things that are going to happen.

Remember Jesus' rebuke in the parable of the rich guy who had this massive harvest and he said, all right, this is great. Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna build bigger barns and I'm gonna have an even greater harvest next time. And Jesus said, you're a fool. Your life will be required of you tomorrow. You can't see into the future. You can't see and know all of the different things that are going to take place. And so you're making this selfish plan and seeking to benefit yourself and fulfilling yourself in this way

But it's not good because you don't know the whole story. I just remembered right now, so I didn't look it up. And so I'm not going to tell it very well, but you can get enough of the details and look it up later if you want. But there's that old parable of the guy who, it's like his son gets hurt, like he breaks a leg or something. And his neighbor comes and says, oh man, I heard the news, your son broke your leg. I'm so sorry. And he said, why are you sorry? Well, it's bad. How do you know it's bad?

Well, then there's a war and all the other sons are enlisted to war, but this guy can't go to war because, you know, his leg was broken. And so the neighbor says, oh, that's good. You know, your son didn't have to go to war. And the guy says, well, how do you know it's good? And it just goes on and on, you know, like all of these situations unfold. How do you know it's bad? How do you know it's good? Like, we don't know the whole story. Our vision, our view is so limited. We can't see very much. And when we make plans rooted in our selfishness,

It's not good. It's going to be that, you know, like the Bible talks about sin being fun for a season. There's a season where sin is enjoyable, but then there's a long season after that where the consequences and the devastation from that sin unfolds in our life. It goes on to tell us in verse 12, Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.

This decision that Lot made sets him on a course that takes him closer and closer to Sodom. Later on in a couple chapters, Sodom and Gomorrah are going to be destroyed. And Lot is right there in the midst of that exceedingly sinful city. In verse 13, it tells us the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. There was this great wickedness and Lot is on this course drawing closer and closer to that.

Our selfish plans take us in that direction, take us closer and closer to exceedingly great wickedness. Our selfish plans lead us further away from God. They take us on a path that is not towards God, but away from God. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says it this way, you can move your tent nearer and nearer to sin, but you cannot take your altar with you. You can move your tent closer and closer to Sodom, but the altar doesn't.

was back with Abraham. You can't take your altar with you. It's a plan. It's a course that takes you away from God. Our selfish plans are not good. And so God says through the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 30, verse 1 and 2, Woe to the rebellious children who take counsel, but not of me, who devise plans, but not of my spirit, who have not asked my advice.

Well, finally, we're going to jump now to chapter 16 here in the book of Genesis and see one final example reminding us that our plans are not good. Point number four here in Genesis 16, our self-fulfillment plans are not good. The plans that we have to satisfy ourselves, to fulfill ourselves, to accomplish our lifelong dreams...

Our plans for those things are not good. Let's look at verses 1, 2, and 3 of Genesis 16. It says, Now Sarai, Abraham's wife, had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abraham, See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please go into my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her. And Abraham heeded the voice of Sarai.

Here in Genesis chapter 16, we're jumping ahead in the timeline a little bit. They've been there now for 10 years, but they don't have any children. Now previously,

Perhaps in Abraham's mind, Lot was going to be the heir that would carry on his name and receive all of the wealth and things that he had accumulated. But now here's Abraham and Sarai, and they don't have any children. And Sarai comes up with a plan. Abraham, it doesn't look like this is working out for us, but I have another idea. I have a way to satisfy this. And this was a practice that was...

normal for them in their culture. It was like their version of surrogacy. Here's my maidservant, have a child through her, and that child will essentially adopt as Sarai's, and that child will, you know, be the heir then of Abraham and Sarai. And so she comes up with this idea. It's important to note that. She comes up with the idea. You see, it's not just man's plans that are not good. Women's plans are not good either. You know, there's some occasions where

It might be said if we would just let women run things, you know, everything would be great. And there's a lot of wisdom that could be offered. But at the same time, men and women, we find ourselves in the same place. Without God, without God's counsel, without God's wisdom, our plans are not good. Whether it's man or woman, male or female, our plans without God are not good.

And so she presents this idea and Abraham says, okay, that's a good idea. Let's go with that. It says in verse two that Abraham heeded the voice of Sarai. An important note for husbands and wives. You know, sometimes husbands and wives take counsel together. We talk to each other. We convince each other it's a good idea. And so we take the course and we feel assured by it because it's not just my idea, right? No, she agrees with me. She thinks it's a good idea too.

Or she's saying, he agrees with me. He thinks it's a good idea too. So we can take comfort in that and we can take this course, but maybe it's not the course that God wants. Maybe it's not a good course. Maybe it's not a good plan. Just because we both agree, just because we're all in unity, doesn't mean it's the right decision or the right path. We can see as it unfolds, they started having problems immediately.

In verse 4, it tells us, There's a change now in Hagar and Sarai's relationship. And Hagar begins to despise Sarai. And there's conflict. There's friction. There's problems. Hagar, in just a few verses, is going to run away because of the severity of these problems.

As the child Ishmael is born and grows up, there's more problems. There's more hurt, more difficulty, more affliction. It's important to note these things. Our self-fulfillment plans are not good. You can think, well, this is the way I can finally achieve the goal that I always wanted, the thing that I always wanted to do, the thing that I always wanted, you know, for me, for my family.

I have this dream. In their case, we have this promise from the Lord, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. So here's what we can do to make it happen. Here's a plan that we can accomplish. But they didn't seek counsel of the Lord. They didn't get his advice on the situation. They set forth to accomplish this plan and would spend the rest of their lives dealing with the consequences of that decision.

Let this remind us to wait on the Lord. Let this remind us to wait upon him as desperately as we want to be fulfilled, as desperately as we want, you know, that spouse or we want that family or we want that career or we want that position or we want that whatever, that life. As desperately as we want that, we need to come to terms with the reality that it may not be good for us and that might not be God's plan for us.

We need to settle our hearts with, I'm going to take God's direction. I'm going to follow his plans and seek his will because I know he wants what's best for me. And as much as I want these things, my plans might not be good. And just as an extension, side note for that, our other's fulfillment plans are not good. It's not just our self-fulfillment plans that are not good. You know, there's so many times where we have plans for others, right?

Parents have plans for their children. We have plans for people that we love. And we think, if only I could execute this plan, then they will be fulfilled. And we need to be careful. I mean, we can be telling them, listen, you'll be so happy if you just let me make these decisions for you, right? Like, you'll be so fulfilled if you just let me, if you just do these things, if you just follow this course. But we need to be careful that we don't exclude God from that picture. That we don't make plans, follow plans, and enforce plans, right?

that are not inspired by the Lord, that are not directed by God. Our plans are not good. As I said at the beginning, this is a hard message for us to believe. Not theologically, not conceptually. It's a hard message for us to believe the next time we have a great plan, right? The next time we have a great idea and it comes up and we're like, oh, this is awesome. And we want to just set out and go and do and accomplish what it is that,

We have thought of what it is that we have imagined and fantasized about. But let us learn this lesson from those who have gone before us. Let us take heed and take to heart that our plans are not good. Our plans, apart from God, are going to be self-centered, focused on ourselves, consumed with ourselves. They're not going to be good for us or for anyone around us. Our self-preservation plans, they're not good.

So many times we take action and we behave reprehensively, really. But it's out of the fear of what might happen or what might come or some threat that is taking place. And we've left God out of the picture. And we're just focused on protecting ourselves and defending ourselves and not honoring the Lord.

Our selfish plans are not good. Just based on what we can see and the course that we like and the things that we want the most, it's not good for us. Lot experienced devastating consequences. His family was affected deeply. He lost his wife ultimately as a result of this. His lineage is carried on only through incest as a result of this decision. I mean, it's just, it's not a good path because our plans are not good. Our self-fulfillment plans are

Listen, God's plans for you are for your good. You could see that also in the chapters that we read this week. In Genesis 12, God says, I have a plan to bless you, Abraham.

And not just bless you, but bless all the families of the earth through you. I have a plan for you and it's good and it's a blessing and it's going to bless everybody around you. Our plans apart from God hurt us, harm us and everybody around us. But God's plan for you blesses you and blesses everybody around you. In Genesis chapter 17, God makes a covenant with Abraham. He reiterates this blessing. It's good for you.

to be where God wants you to be, to trust the Lord and walk with him and to hear what he has to say, to follow his plans and purposes. And it's really bad for us to follow our plans apart from God. In Isaiah chapter 55, the Lord says, my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. How higher the heavens above the earth?

I mean, you can think about the current atmosphere and, you know, the miles up into the outer atmosphere and the outer space. And then you can think about the light years to the nearest star. You can think about the, you know, whatever, millions of light years to the edge of the galaxy. I don't know all the numbers off the top of my head, obviously. But you get the point, right? Like the heavens are infinitely higher than the earth. God's plans, God's ways, God's thoughts are infinitely better than

than your thoughts, than my ways, than our plans. And so what we need to do as we learn the lesson from these guys is include God in the planning process. Seek him for advice. Seek him for counsel. Allow him to instruct us on the way that we should go. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for these examples in your word.

Lord, the opportunity to be challenged and reminded of the good that you want to do for us, in us, and through us. I pray, God, that you would help us to believe you at your word and to believe this message that you have brought forth. Lord, that we would not trust in our plans, no matter who else agrees with it. Lord, ultimately, we need to know, do you agree with it? Do you think it's a good idea? Is this your will for us? Help us, God, to seek you.

as we make decisions, as we relate to one another, as we go forward in the life that you've set before us. May we hear from you and rely upon you for wisdom, for strength, and for all that we need. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.