Gods Sabbath

380

E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

they sometimes have to be abandoned because other people, al so involved in the planning, have acted totally out of harmony with the Lord. An illustration which we have already studied involves the experience of Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb. God’s plan for them was their immediate entrance into Canaan. They were in harmony with God and fit to enter the promised land, but, be cause of the people’s insurrection, they had to give up the beau tiful plan made for them. It would be quite dangerous to con clude that once God has formed a plan and given it to us, then under no circumstances can that plan be surrendered. Moses, Aaron, and the other two would have taken a hazardous wrong step to insist on going into the promised land without the other Israelites. We must be constantly prepared to give up the plan we have received from God, if He Himself overrules it. We are not to cling doggedly to our plans under all circumstances. Third reason Another reason we may have to give up our plans is to provide an abiding reminder to us that God is the Source on whom we are continually dependent for all things. This safeguards us against self-sufficiency and forgetfulness of God, the problem which has brought so much loss and sorrow to the church in the past. We especially need to depend on our Source as we plan to execute the work God has given us. We must constantly remem ber that in every step taken, there is to be the closest co-work ing between the divine and the human. When we have given our plan back to God then we should do what the day requires, resting at perfect peace in the knowledge that it is safely in the Lord’s hands. If there are opportunities to carry out the plan without having to force it along, then we should do so, while remaining sensitive and responsive to the in dications of Providence. If the way closes up, we can remain at rest in the Lord, thankful that the plan is coming to naught, for it has been laid aside by God who alone can see the end from the beginning. Maybe other circumstances arose, rendering the orig inal plan null and void, or perhaps it originated with Satan, the destroyer. We can remain confident that God has the whole mat