How many plans do you have going at this very moment that haven’t first been brought to God? How many bright ideas are you counting on that haven’t first been filtered through the Almighty?

I tell you with absolute confidence from personal experience, if God is in it, absolutely NOTHING can stop it. But if God was never invited into it in the first place, you’re making a massive mess, no matter how good it all sounded.

I have a lot of ideas. Good ideas. Exciting ideas. Big plans. Fun plans. I could tell you my plans and I know you would want to sign up to join me in those plans. But, if I don’t first talk to God about those plans, I create chaos. I will be in the wrong place at the wrong time with my good intentions, and I’ll be trying to drag you along with me, wondering why absolutely nothing will come together and work for us. All while God must be sitting back saying, “My girl, if you would have talked to me about this first, I could have saved you a whole lot of frustration and disappointment.”

God recently showed me his radical favor when he’s in it, and it’s beyond anything I could have ever imagined on my own. Impossible things. Things that are so statistically far fetched that me and my big plans wouldn’t have dared to have even planned it. Things so big I felt foolish even praying it.

You know that Mission Retreat I’ve been sharing with you? The one where we partnered with 99+1 to prepare a home for girls aging out of foster care. I’m assuming you’ve seen the photos and videos of a thousand Amazon boxes stacked to the ceilings. You’ve seen the rooms worthy of a magazine. You’ve seen the precious girls receiving their rooms with such tremendous awe and gratitude. But what you didn’t see was just 4 months ago, I was cancelling that entire mission.

There was no money. There were no workers. And the property still looked like a war zone. It wasn’t possible for me to bring in a team of 40 women and dress up a disaster with a rug and curtains. Kind of like putting lipstick on a pig, we would be wasting our time. This wasn’t going to happen. So I began planning a retreat cancellation with refund and putting together an official statement of our disappointment that was somehow supposed to sound hopeful.

Basically a statement of “We tried, but we failed, now let’s dig deep and find the good in it anyway.”

You didn’t even know it was coming, but I assure it it was. Cancelled. None of it was possible. The truth set in, even if we had the money and we had the workers, getting supplies and materials right now takes twice as long. Nothing is available. Have you tried to buy furniture lately? It takes 6 months to get a couch.

What were we thinking? I was embarrassed by our failure.

But what God has shown me once again is, if he’s in it, IT CANNOT FAIL. If he’s in it, IMPOSSIBLE THINGS ARE MADE POSSIBLE. If he’s in it, NO ONE AND NO THING CAN STOP IT.

So girl, make sure he’s in it!

If you have a single plan going that you haven’t consulted God on first, stop everything right now! Trust me, you don’t want this if God’s not in it.

Isaiah 30: 1-3 “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to hide in his shade. But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced.”

What plans have we made that are contrary to God’s plans? What alliances are we in that were never directed by his Spirit? Who have we been consulting? Where have we turned for help, and what protection have we sought that God never aligned? Where have we hidden, what have we trusted, and who are we depending on that has taken God’s position in our life?

We’ve been warned, that’s not going to work out real well for us. But here’s what happens if we seek God first …

Isaiah 30: 19-22 “He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags, saying to them, “Good riddance!”

If you ask for help, GOD WILL HELP YOU. If you look to him, HE WILL GUIDE YOU. Your own ears will hear his voice that tells you which way to go.

Well wouldn’t that be great right about now? God’s voice directing you? God’s voice making the way known? God’s voice cutting through the chaos and confusion and giving you calm assurance? Well, as much as you want to receive it, God wants to give that to you even more!

Hasn’t God guided you? Hasn’t he answered you? I mean you’re listening to this right now, hearing these exact words after you asked God how to hear him. Duhhhhh, he’s talking to you! He’s telling you to ask him for help. That’s the next right step. He’s telling you to see how this adversity and suffering is here to teach you.

And now he’s telling you your next step. Did you see it?

He says he will be a voice right behind you saying “this is the way you should go” whether to the right or to the left. THEN YOU WILL DESTROY everything you’ve been counting on before, throw out all your bright ideas and good plans, all you’ve been trusting in, counting on, and hiding behind, and trust God’s good plans, and only his plans.

Yes, after you’ve asked for help, that is your next step. Release the results.

I’ve learned a bold and powerful prayer that has turned some seemingly good plans upside down, and there’s no telling what it saved me from. Here’s the prayer: “Lord, if you’re in it, I want it. If you’re not, I don’t.”

Do you need to stop something right now and invite God into it? Have you been doing your ‘thang’, pushing and pulling, working and wrestling, conjuring and concocting, twisting and trying, but you haven’t talked to God about it in a long time? Oh girl, what if your plans are contrary to God’s plans? I assure you, no matter how good it looks, YOU DON’T WANT THAT!

You don’t want that man if that’s not God’s man for you.
You don’t want that job if that’s not God’s job for you.
You don’t want that house if that’s not God’s house for you.
You don’t want that open door, that opportunity, that advancement, that promotion, that blessing, that yes, if that’s not God’s for you.
You don’t want that.

But if you ask God, and he says that is for you, then nothing can stop you from walking right into it! When you’re seeking God’s plans over your own plans and living in full surrender, you can walk with confidence knowing the impossible is on your side. All things are working together!

I have some really good plans lined up. Big dreams. Beautiful things. Things I want to share with you! But I’m doing a little Spirit check this morning and slowing my roll right to my knees and asking God if this is in alignment with his plans. Because if it is, I WANT IT! And if it’s not, I don’t.

Do you need to join me in the pursuit of God’s plans, and complete surrender of your own? Do you need to stop everything you’re doing and ensure God’s in it before you continue on it? Yip, that’s probably why you’re listening to this exact episode on this exact day. It’s time to ask about God’s plans and let go of our own.

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