Day of Praise

Wed, 03/15/17, "Day of Praise"

"The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing" - Isaiah 19:3

You would look at me as if I was crazy.

Imagine we're playing a friendly game of Jeopardy. Ready?

Answer: Foiled, Futile, Frustrated, Nothing, Shattered, Thwarted.

Question: What do most people want out of life?

You would look at me as if I was crazy.

But what is a life? Isn't it made up of years? And aren't those years made of months? And months made of weeks?

So, uh, what are you planning for this week? And more importantly, with whom are you planning this week? By yourself? With your family? With a team of coworkers?

In today's Bible verse, the southern kingdom of Israel, called Judah, is in the process of making plans for the week. And longer.

Judah's leaders are trying to maximize the possibility of a good life. So they make plans. After all, isn't the old saying, "No one plans to fail; they just fail to plan"?

The problem is not in their planning. Judah's problem is their partner in planning. Judah's partner in planning is  the Egyptians.

And God has something to say about that, as in today's verse: "The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing" (Isaiah 19:3).

In fact, through the whole of scripture, here are the words God uses to describe plans that leave God out of the planning: Foiled, Futile, Frustrated, Nothing, Shattered, Thwarted.

Sounds to me like our little game of Jeopardy from earlier.

But this is not a game. It's life. And the question remains: What do most people want out of life? Or how about, what do you want out of life?

The outcome depends on who you include in the planning.

There's certainly nothing wrong with including others in your planning. Just be sure to ask the LORD to be the lead. After all, "the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations" (Psalm 33:11).

Therefore, with intentional head-bowed prayer, "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans" (Proverbs 16:3). 

So, if a life is made of years, months, and weeks, then planning for a good life starts this week...with the LORD.

Praise God!