How to Plan Wisely

Happy Sunday! Today we continue in our study of selected proverbs. Before we get to our verse of the day I want to go to the book of Genesis. The name Abraham is likely a name that you know; we first meet him in Genesis chapter 12.

His name in his early years was Abram - God would rename him Abraham later on. When he is first mentioned in scripture he is 75 years old. He is married to a woman named Sarah and she is about 10 years younger than Abram. As the story unfolds, Abram is given a promise - God tells him that he will be the Father of a great nation.

A covenant was made. He would be the patriarch of the Jewish people. His descendants would be of an uncountable number. There was a problem - Abraham and Sarah were up in years and they had no children.

God made a promise - Abraham and Sarah waited. Nothing happened for a decade. In chapter 16 of Genesis Sarah was tired of waiting. She was in her late 70’s Abram was pushing 90.

So - Sarah devised a plan. She told Abram to have sex with her servant Hagar. Hagar was young and of child bearing age and Sarah thought that Abraham could fulfill God’s promise in that way. It was a bad idea - and Abram agreed to it.

That brings us to today’s Proverb - Proverbs 15:22 “Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed.” “Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed.” Abram should have sought counsel. He should have spoken with God fearing friends and told them what Sarah had said.

I would hope that a wise friend would have told Abram that it was a bad, bad plan. Can you imagine a friend coming to you and saying - God promised that my wife and I would have a baby. We are tired of waiting so my wife thinks it would be a good idea for me to have sex with her young friend. Hopefully a wise friend would be willing to tell the truth.

“Without counsel, plans go wrong,” Now I must state the obvious, the counsel that you seek should be Godly and wise and mature. Surround yourself with idiots and your counsel will be rotten. Surround yourself with God fearing friends and your counsel will be spot on. You have likely heard the old saying - SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS AND I WILL SHOW YOU YOUR FUTURE.

There is some wisdom there. There is another story in Genesis that comes to mind - it is found in chapter 11 - it is the story of the TOWER OF BABEL. Genesis 11 tells us - At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylon and settled there.

They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let us build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

If you know the story, you know that this idea was directly against God’s plan. After the flood God tells the descendants of Noah to fill the earth. That is chapter 9 of Genesis. In chapter 11 they decide to do just the opposite -- to stay together in Babylon.

The people - now descendants of Noah --should fear God and follow his commands - THEY DO NOT. They decide to -build a great city for themselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. They reasoned that this tower would make them famous and keep them from being scattered all over the world.” God was not in their equation.

So what did God do? He intervened. God confused the people with different languages. They could no longer communicate as 1 BIG group - so they had to stop their building and they scattered.

You would think that at the planning meeting that someone would have spoken up and said - THIS IS NOT WHAT GOD WANTS. WE ARE BEING DISOBEDIENT. It doesn’t look like that happened, Be careful who you listen to. “Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed.”

As I thought of this verse, I wondered what would stop people from seeking counsel. Pride comes to mind, Some people feel that they know it all and they impulsively make bad decisions. Perhaps it is isolation - if you are not connected to a strong group of Christian friends, I encourage you to surround yourself with committed Christ followers.