Fear Based Plan VS Faith Based Plan
Transcript Search
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
What Should I Do Now
What Should I Do Now
This morning we are continuing in our series What Do I Do Now.We will do two more weeks in this series and then move on.Here is what we will learn today.I don’t care who you are, how spiritual you are, what your position is in life you will face challenges and trials in life.Right now it is probably just Zimbabwe challenges that most are focused on.but we need to know and learn that throughout life as James said we will face many trials and they come in many forms.They can be financial challenges, emotional challenges, trials come from relationship problems, on and on we can go.When they come we react.That is what we are trying to learn from this series.How do we react or what do we do.I can tell you right now that no matter what there is emotions that come from all these and the main one that just plain happens is we get a little stressed and anxious.You have all experienced that right? Out of curiosity how any of you are in some state of stress or anxiety right now?So what do we do with that?Of course as good Christians we know the answer.
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
What do we do? Well we usually pray.As we pray we hope for that peace to come.Here is where our take home comes for today.We get trial, we get anxious, we go go pray, we get peace ——-THEN WHAT? My guess is where most go is then it is time to make a plan.Today’s take home is we can either make a fear based plan or a faith based plan.There is a big difference between the two?Faith based plan will keep you in that peace but the fear based plan - listen carefully.When you make a fear based plan it will always cost you.That’s what we will learn today.This will be a two part message, half today and half next week.Today’s take home will be to really see the need to make Faith Based Plans not Fear based plans.So here is a question for you all.Many of you said you have some anxiety and stress right now.I want you to think about what is giving you that stress and anxiety.You all have it fresh in your mind?Here is the question?You pray because you know the Bible says, be anxious for nothing, you even get a little peace from praying?What will help you stay in the peace?I mean what if God speaks to you and says it is all going to be ok, and when I say God speaks He has many ways that He can do that but however He does it you know for 100% that God has told you everything is going to be ok.How many of you would say that is enough to stay in peace and then make a faith based plan?Let me take it further.Not only does God speak to you and you know that He did but on top of it He even gives you a sign of some sort that everything is going to be ok? Is that enough to keep stay in peace and then make a faith based plan?One more. The on top of God speaking to you, giving you a sign He also gives you some incredible say vision, maybe an angel comes and let’s you know everything is ok.Would that be enough?WOULD ANY OF YOU STILL BE ANXIOUS?Here is reality.We will look at a story in the Bible today of someone who had all of those and yet still got super anxious, made a fear based plan and it cost him dearly.What we will learn we can have all of those and we will see is where the problem comes is even after all that we still depend upon ourselves to solve the problems rather than learning to depend upon God.Read
Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.”
And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before.
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,
instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.
I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps,
thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”
And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’
I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.
Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.
But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,
two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.”
He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’
then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’ ”
He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him,
and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
There is only a little background that we need on this story.If you don’t know the story of Jacob he was real schemer.He lived his whole life, MAKING A PLAN.Those planned worked pretty good for him, they managed to get him Esaus’s birthright and blessing which meant that he would inherit the majority of all his father’s wealth and more.But after his last plan Esau decided to kill Jacob and so he fled to his uncles house back in the land of Haran.Jacob spent 20 years there scheming back and forth with his uncle.What we read in Genesis 31:3 is where our take home comes.I asked the question, what if God spoke to you is that enough?Well look at verse 3
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
So Jacob did go, and even saw God help him as Laban came God intervened.
God spoke very clearly. It was time to go home.How God spoke we don’t know but it was in a way that Jacob knew it was God.Was that enough? Well God didn’t stop there.Because when Uncle Laban heard that Jacob left he went after him.But God came to Laban and said not only don’t harm Jacob but don’t even say anything good or bad to him.In other words God made it very clear to Laban leave Jacob alone.So there is the sign from God. First God speaks and says go Home and I will be with you.Now God gives him a sign to show that He is with him because he protects him from Laban.Is that enough.Well God didn’t even stop there.Now God gives him a vision. Look at Genesis 32:1,2
Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Now Jacob didn’t just see an angel but a whole camp of them.Probably what is known as the army of the Lord.Again Jacob didn’t have to guess if this was from God He knew it.It probably reminded him of the vision he had 20 years ago at Bethel.So he named the place Mahanaim, meaning two camps.He has his camp with his family and he has the army of the Lord camping with him.Now can I ask you the question again.Think of your issue. Whatever it is that causes you anxiety, would this be enough to keep you in peace to where you would not go make a fear based plan but make some choices based in faith?God has spoken to you, given you a sign and a vision.Is that enough?For Jacob it started to be.He made a faith based plan. Tell Esau I’m coming back and I hope there is no hard feelings.That was good.Yes he did do some funny things like pretend that he was humble and coming as his servant.But really it was a good plan. Even let him know he was coming back with his own things and hopes that everything is good between them.So from this we need to learn.When it comes to crisis’, trials, anxiety and stress, you don’t just sit back and do nothing.That is not a sign a great faith unless the plan is to sit back and wait.Most of the time making a plan is a good idea.And the faith bases plan is to do what God tells you to do.Keep living the way that God wants you to live.For Jacob it was go home and I am with you.So he told his brother I am coming home.But this is where it goes bad.Once Jacob tells brother he is coming home his servants come back and tell him your brother is coming to meet you with 400 men.This is where we need to learn a lesson.What did Jacob think when he heard about the 400 men?He thought they were coming to get him.Why did he think that?Why didn’t he think, wow my brother is so excited to see me he is sending 400 men to help us move.How kind.See this is a problem we often have.We just naturally when stressed or anxious we go to the worse case scenario.They are coming to kill me.I will not have enough to feed my family.My business is going to be bankrupt.I will get fired.My bank account will not be worth anything.Bond notes are only good to light a fire with.Why do we do that?Why did Jacob do that?He already had God speak to Him, give him a sign and a vision.This is where our big problem comes.Even with all of that we don’t really trust God.We expect the worst.That sent Jacob back to prayer.Oh he prayed a great prayer.This time when he said amen, unlike the last time he made a fear based plan and did it cost him.Verse
So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,
two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
I totaled that up and it is like minimum $250,000 gift.talk about a cost.What happened to trusting God to get him through this.He did it with Laban, he had the angels with him.Why this?Because behind it he trusted his plan over God.That is what gets us in trouble.As soon as we do that it will always cost us.It can cost us financially, it can cost us relationships, it can cost us moving somewhere not because God is leading but out of fear, it can cost us making really bad investments.I have a good friend who was draining has cash and bank trading 5 to 1 for bonds, which means he took $20,000 bonds and traded for $4,000That is a fear based plan.That cost a lot.Be anxious for nothing and pray.Remember who you are praying to.God is with you. God can take you through anything.God will help you make the plan.If you are in fear, if you are anxious or if you are in stress.Stop, refocus on God. Let the peace the come.Only make your plan when in that peace.We will learn more next week.When you make a plan out of fear just remember the $250,00 gift.Learn to just follow.