When God doesn't give you a plan

Because I understand that God wants to use me, but

I need to know what that's going to look like.

You understand? I need some details. I need some specifics.

I need some marching orders. I need some dates, some times,

some instructions. So please, Lord, if it's not too much trouble,

send that guy back. And he said we were going

to have a son that was going to change the

world and stuff. But I need to hear it for myself,

and I need to know the plan. Any planners in

the house? Any planners? Any planners? Any planners? Thank God

for you. Thank God for you. Because all the people

without their hand up, they always come late and make

the worship leaders lead to the first two rows, and

it's empty, and they come crawling in last minute. But

I don't hate you in the back, but I'm just

saying thank God for the planners. But it can become

a problem, and I'm going to show you why. I'm

going to show you why. He said, we need to

know the plan. If it's going to be this big thing,

you know, if you gave us this promise, I need

to know the plan. Because without a plan, the promise

is just abstract rhetoric. Without the plan, I can know

God is for me. He wants to use me. I'm

spread the gospel. And all that sounds good. But just

send him back. If I could get five minutes with

this awesome looking man who was talking to my wife

and told her she was about to get pregnant, I

need to know the plan. Now, I love the next phrase.

God heard Manoah. God heard Manoah. Isn't it interesting that

the woman wasn't praying to get pregnant when the angel

said it was going to happen? I don't know if

she gave up. I don't know if she did pray.

I don't know if she didn't pray. Bible doesn't say

it doesn't matter. And then Manoah is begging God to

show up and speak to him. You know, God initiates,

we respond. God initiates, we respond. But God heard Manoah.

And when Manoah prayed, God didn't say, figure it out

yourself and trust me. Instead, he obliged Manoah's need for

more information. Let the person next to you know something

real quick. And it might sound cocky, but tell them

anyway it's true. Say, he hears me. God hears me.

He hears me better than Siri and Alexa. He hears me.

He hears me. He knows my voice. He likes when

I call him. When I say help, he says yes

before I can even get out my mouth. He hears me.

He hears my groans where words don't come. He hears me.

He hears my heart and the secret petitions of things

that people don't know that I'm dealing with. He hears me.

He hears the unspoken. Did you go to youth group

and we used to say I have an unspoken? He

hears what I don't say. He hears what's behind what

I said that's really driving the behavior. He hears me.

He hears my secret frustration that I don't say around

people because if I told him how frustrated I was,

it would scare him. But he hears me. He hears

me when I sing to him. When I tell him

worthy is the Lamb of God, he hears me. I

know there's better singers than me, and I know I

don't always sing on key, but he hears me. When

I sing, thank you, Jesus, he hears me. It blesses

his heart to hear me. And the angel of God

came again to the woman. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

To the woman? Manoah asked... For the visit. And this

angel is back out talking to his wife. Because God

is not going to do it like you want him

to do it. He's going to want to see will

you trust him. So the angel of God came again

to the woman while she was out in the field.

But her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman

hurried to tell her husband. He's here. The man who

appeared to me the other day. Manoah got up. And

followed his wife. And when he came to the man.

He said are you the man. Who talked to my wife.

Hold on let me change Manoah's accent. Are you the man.

Who talked to my wife. She said. She said an

awesome looking man came. And said that she was going

to be pregnant. Was that you? Angel said I am.

So Manoah asked him. When your words are fulfilled, I

don't doubt you're going to do it. I just need

another plan. What is to be the rule that governs

the boy's life and work? How do we do this?

How do we do this? We're in a meeting this

week about the church, and I know what I want

to see, but I don't know the plan for it.

A lot of times when I get in that mode,

I start trying to tweak stuff. And I start trying

to manipulate stuff. I know you don't do this, but

I'm a control freak. And so I'll be like, well,

we could do this, this, and this. And it's all good.

It's all good. But I want you to watch what

the angel does. Instead of giving Manoah the plan, which

is what he asked for, what do we do with

this boy that you said is going to be born,

that's going to do something great? What do I do

with this calling? What do I do in this situation?

I need to know the plan. I need to know

the details. I need to know the agenda. And the

Bible says this. that the angel, verse 13, answered your wife.

So now the angel pivots from what Manoah asked to

what he needed to know right now. Now, sometimes when

you pray to God, he's going to pivot and you're

gonna be like, I need the plan. but God will pivot.

I mean, this angel would have made a great politician

or preacher or basketball player. He could have been in

the all-star game because watch how quick he pivots. We

need to know what to do. When the boy is born,

what are we going to do? How are we going

to raise him? How are we going to do it?

How many times? You know, Manoah's full of questions, right?

Of course he is. Do we need to put him

in a special school? Do we need to get him

a tutor? Do we need to teach him karate? Do

we need to teach him jujitsu? You know, should we

be strict? Should we do it? What are we doing?

What are we doing? And the angel said, Just tell

your wife right now, don't drink anything or eat anything unclean.

That's all you need to know right now. The pivot.

From what you think you need to know to what

you really need to know. And God just … Watch

his footwork. See, we always want to see God's hand,

but sometimes you got to watch his feet because sometimes

he wants to set a different direction to say, you're

not even looking at the right side of this. Watch

the pivot. And when he pivots, you got to be

quick to go with him and say, God, I don't

want your hand. I want your face. I want to

know you. I want to seek you. I want to

see you. I want to feel you. I want to

know you. I want to have you. I want to.

I want to understand you. What you know I need

to understand, and I wonder, is God trying to pivot

your prayer life? Is God trying to pivot your strategizing?

Is God trying to pivot because you're always trying to

look for him in logic? You're always trying to look

for him in analysis and in calculation, but God is spirit,

and you can't get to spirit through strategy. You've got

to come to God like this. You've got to come

to God with open arms, open hands, and an open heart.

It's the pivot. It's a funny thing about a pivot, though.

It's a small move, but it sets a completely different direction. Manoah,

you can't handle the plan right now. You can't. My

word is a lamp unto your feet, a light unto

your path. Funny thing about pivot. I've been doing this

all week, just studying this sermon. He's trying to get

God to show me different ways to see situations and

to see his will and what I think is his

will and what I thought was his will. And I

thought he was always doing this, but sometimes he's doing that.

And they get this promise. This is from the Lord,

you know. He didn't realize that at first. But he

starts to sense. He starts to sense that this may

be God. This may be God. Because it's too big

to be anything I could do. I don't have a

plan for it. I don't have a context for it.

I don't know. This may be God. This is the Lord.

This is from the Lord. This gift set that I have,

this talent, this child that I'm raising, this is from

the Lord. Somebody say, this is from the Lord. And

so since it's from the Lord, then I need him

to show me how to do it. But sometimes he

won't answer the question that I ask. Instead, he will

give me the wisdom that I need because he knows

a better question. Hey, thank you for watching. Make sure

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