Not our plans but His will

I want to start off asking who of you are natural planners. Like you plan everything about your life to a T. Every event, every holiday. Like you Christmas shopping was done in July already. Your Christmas meal was planned months ahead of time. And when things do not go according to plan your head spins, you feel light-headed and you think it is the end of your world. 

I do think that all of us has a plan for our future. We like to have some sort of idea of what your life should look. Whether you're a planner or not, whenever life goes in a different direction than you had planned it can be a little bit rattling at times. 

I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that simply based on the number of people that I'm talking to there are many of you right now that you're facing something that you didn't plan. It hurts me how many people I know that are now job hunting that never planned to be job hunting at this time in their life. I know so many people that are close to me, and I know that you do as well, you might be one of them, who say, "I didn't plan on having a medical battle at this point in my life." There are some of you that unfortunately as you go into the Christmas time, it's supposed to be like the best time of the year and you're thinking, I didn't plan on being separated at this time. This wasn't what I thought would happen.

We could even say like symbolically, I call it the empty chair, whether there's a real empty chair at your table or not, but there are many of you that thought somebody would be there with you this Christmas time and they're not here and you'll have the symbolic empty chair and you're thinking this isn't what I had planned. Again, whenever we face things that we didn't plan, for some it can kind of jar your, rattle your faith and you're wondering, okay, God, where are you? Why are you allowing this to happen, God? This isn't what I had planned, God. What's going on? This isn't what I had planned.

As I said, what I want to do today is look at some verses from Matthew chapter 1 and I want to talk about the mother and father of Jesus. They're physical parents on earth. Their names are Mary and Joseph, and if you're not familiar with the Bible you may want to read a little more about the birth of Jesus. You can read in Matthew chapter 1 or Luke chapter 1 and Luke 2. Matthew 1, Luke 1 and Luke 2. What you'll find is several paragraphs are describing what took place over months and months. If you think about it we know a little bit, but there are so many things that happened in the story that we don't know about, right?

So we see in the story that Mary is promised to Joseph and they are destined to get married. They're making plans, then one day Mary's off by herself and she has the most special and holy encounter with God of her whole life. An angel appears to Mary. She loves God. She cannot believe this and the angel tells her, "You've been chosen. You're going to give birth to a son.

" She was like, "Ah, haven't you heard, Joey and I aren't, we're not married yet and we're not" ... The angel says, "No, no, no, you will conceive this child by the Holy Spirit." You can only imagine this little girl loves God, is in love with Joseph, she's getting married and her God has chosen them to be a part of history. She's thinking to herself, I can't wait to tell Joseph, he's going to be beside himself with excitement. God has chosen us. She goes and tells Joseph she's pregnant. Let's take a vote. Is Joseph excited or is he freaking out? Excited? Freaking out? 

Yip, I agree he would have been freaking out. You're right, he's freaking out. He's being a regular guy. Pregnant by the Holy Ghost? I'll kill him. Show me where this guy is? These are real people and we don't know how it came about, but we know that between verse 18 and 19, the polite way to say it is that everything hit the fan. Matthew 1:18-19 (CSB) The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother, Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

Let's just look at this and we're reading between the lines because we don't know exactly what happened, but we can kind of imagine. Verse 18 of Matthew 1 says this, "This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother, Mary, was pledged to be married to Joseph," but all of our churches say, "But he was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together they had a plan, but before they came together she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit."           

She goes off and tells Joseph, "Hey, I pregnant, it was the Holy Spirit." We don't know how he responds, but we know he gets hurt and upset and we see the result in verse 19, because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace. He had in mind to divorce her quietly. What do we know? The dude is devastated. He's crushed. He's humiliated. He's brokenhearted. Read between the lines. He's already put down a nonrefundable deposit on the Garden Chapel Inn, right? The wedding invitations maybe have already gone out. Somehow he's got to tell his mom and his dad, he's got to tell his friends.            

He's going to be so publicly humiliated, but worse than public humiliation is the fact that he loved her, he trusted her, he told her things that he never told anybody before. He believed that God had brought them together. He was saving himself for her and now she's done this, she's cheated. He's like, he's half-mad, half-torn. He cannot believe this. If you'll notice in the text it said, "He planned to divorce her quietly." If you were paying really careful attention you might say, "Wait a minute they weren't married yet, why divorce?" Well at this time in history if you were engaged the only way you could break off an engagement was to get an official divorce and culturally then divorce was much more serious and frowned upon.

If you're divorced you're kind of like almost pushed out completely and Joseph's like, "I'm trying to serve God, now I'm going to be divorced." Think about Mary's perspective. Think about her. When the angel of the Lord appeared to her, according to Luke 1:38 this is what Mary said, she said this, she said to the angel, Luke 1:38 (CSB) 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

That's what she said. If she were living today she would've said something like, "I love God with all my heart and I will do whatever He wants me to do." She said yes to what God asked.

Now her life is over. She's pregnant without a husband, she's going to be a divorced single mom in a culture where she can't get any type of a real job to support herself. She's going to be begging for the rest of her life, trying to raise this kid. You can only imagine the rumours. Oh, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary. Joseph hates her. Her life is over and you know what she's thinking? God, this isn't what I had planned. God, I said yes to you, I did everything you wanted me to do, God why are you allowing this to happen? God, I only tried to do what you asked. This isn't fair, God. This isn't what I had planned. Right? 

This is exactly where some of you are right now. This isn't what I had planned and I don't know what it may be for you, but you were finally getting ahead financially and we're going to have a great Christmas for our kids and then the car breaks down and it's hundreds of dollars. Like, no, this isn't what I had planned. You poured your life into your kids, they were your life, everything you did was for your kids and now they're making decisions, you're looking and going, "What are you doing? This isn't what I had planned."            

You took a job and you did for your family, you knew it would be a better job, a chance for promotion, a chance to move up and you were moving up and then the economy kind of turned and your company downsized and you were last in, first out. You were one of the causalities. This isn't what I had planned. There's so many of you, too many of you, and I hurt with every single one of you who thought you would live happily ever after with him or with her and the happily's not there and neither is the ever after and you're thinking, this isn't what I had planned. God, where are you?         

The list could go on and on. I didn't plan on having migraines. I didn't plan on battling depression. I didn't plan on fighting cancer. I didn't plan on losing my scholarship. God, what are you doing? This isn't what I had planned. I told you are the beginning of the message that I was going to give you one thought, one big thought, one truth to embrace, and this is for every one of you who've had a change of plans. If you're taking notes I hope you'll write this down, and, more importantly, you'll plant this truth in your heart, and that is this: if you had a change of plans and you don't have to understand, embrace this truth. You don't have to understand the plan to trust God has a purpose.           

Let me say it again. I want you to feel this and believe this. You don't have to understand the plan to trust God has a purpose. Proverbs 19:21 says exactly that, Proverbs 19:21 (CSB) Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail. many are what? Let's say it aloud at all of our churches. Many are the plan? Say it again. All of our churches, somebody in Florida, somebody in Arkansas, somebody in Texas, say it aloud, many are the plans in a person's heart, but even though we have so many plans what happens? It is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. You don't have to understand the plan to trust God has a purpose. 

Mary and Joseph's plans were wrecked, shattered. Joseph determines I have no choice but to divorce her, so he considers that and then in verse 20 we read this: "But after Joseph had considered this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.'" Wait. Wait. Wait. Everything she said is true? The angel says, "Yes," in the dream. Verse 21 shows us the purpose. Verse 21, she will give birth to a son and you're to give him the name, Jesus. Why? Why? Because he will save his people from their sins. 

You could almost imagine Joseph going, "Wait. Wait. Wait. You're telling me God is in on this? You're telling me the last thing that I ever wanted is exactly what God wanted to happen? You mean there is a purpose in the middle of my pain?" You can almost hear God whispering to him, "My thoughts are so much different than your thoughts and my ways are higher than your ways and even though you may not feel that I'm working in all things to bring about good to those who love me and are called according to my purpose." Sometimes God may even redirect our plans when he has a different purpose. You don't have to understand the plan to trust that God has a purpose.

Think about this, Mary's pregnant with the son of God. If I'm like, in this I'm Joseph, I'm thinking, well, we're doing this for God, we got connections. This is going to be smooth, right? Heavenly epidural, no pain, totally free. She sneezes, the baby comes out. We've got a baby. This thing's easy. No. No. No. No. No. Instead, she's in labour and guess where she is? Ladies, on the back of a donkey. On a donkey. She's in labour. Joseph is so dead. He's pulling that donkey through red lights, come on a donkey. Come on. Come on. Running red lights. They get to the town and guess what? He's even deader. He didn't make reservations. There's no hotel there.      

Where does she give birth? Ladies, in your dream place, in a cave next to farm animals, that's where she gives birth to the son of God. If you kind of go through it eventually she's, no epidural, no soft music, just ... And she's got a baby. They're going to live happily ever after, right? Guess what she finds out? This is true. King Herod wants to kill her son. Think about that. Internalize it. This is a real mom, this is a real dad. The ruler of your universe wants your kid dead. How does that feel? What do you think she's thinking? But God, I said yes to you and they're on the run. They're hooking it to Egypt. They're hiding out in houses. Don't tell anybody we're here. Like in the movies, they're on the run.            

Fast forward 33 years. Mary, the mom who said "Yes, may it be done unto me according to your word. God you know I love you, I'll do whatever you ask me to do." She's standing on, looking at her son, her son stripped down naked, hanging on a cross only supported by spikes through his wrists and his heels. His back is so cut open by being whipped again and again it's likely his vital organs are exposed. The only way that he can breathe is to push up as the spikes drive through his feet and pull up on his hands to get a breath. On his brow is a crown of thorns. His face is so bruised and bloodied that he doesn't even look like a human being.  

The mother who said, "Yes," looks on and it's not recorded but you know what she's thinking. God, this isn't fair. He didn't do anything wrong. He did everything right. We did everything you asked us to do. Make it stop. No mom should ever have to see that. What did Jesus do? They're spitting on him. They are spitting on him. Hail. Hail, King of the Jews, you call yourself that. You've saved others, save yourself. Jesus looks up to heaven and prays, "Father, please forgive them, they don't even know what they're doing." She looks on, her son is righteous in every way and the Jesus declares with faith and with passion, through the pain, through the agony he says, "It is finished."        

Then he breathes one last breath and says, Luke 23:46 (CSB)

46 And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last. Boom and the earth go dark and everything shakes. This is not recorded in scripture, but let me tell you this did happen, Mary's legs could not contain the weight of her grief and she falls to the ground and she wails and sobs, "No, my baby!" Right? Put yourself there. Real people. Real agony. This isn't what I had planned. Mary and Joseph had a plan, God had a purpose. Mary and Joseph had a plan, God had a purpose. Mary and Joseph had a plan, God had a purpose. What was that purpose you ask? What was the purpose? Let me tell you what the purpose was.

The purpose was you. The purpose was you. Mary and Joseph had a plan. God had a purpose. People say all the time Jesus is the reason for the season. Jesus is the reason for the season. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jesus is the reason for the season, but if you ask God what the reason for the season was in His heart, it was you. That was the reason for the season. That was the reason Jesus came. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son. For God so loved you that He became one of us. You couldn't make up the Christmas story. A man had a plan of how the messiah would come. God had a purpose that he would be stripped of His righteousness in heaven and become a person in Jesus, who was born of a virgin.

Why did a virgin matter? Because he didn't inherit the sin nature from an earthly father, but instead the divine nature from a heavenly father, therefore he could be perfect in every way, never sinning. Dying on the cross for who? For you, for me, for us. We were the purpose. Mary and Joseph had planned, but God had a purpose and you were that purpose. It was right there in scripture, and yet so many people missed it. Verse 21, Mary will give birth to a son and you're to give him the name, Jesus. Why? Here's the purpose: Mary and Joseph had a plan, but God had a purpose. His purpose? You were that purpose because Jesus will save his people from their sins.

If you are one of those who've had a change in plans, and maybe right now things are really difficult and I'm not going to tell you for a moment that your pain's not real, because sometimes it just hurts and sometimes you just don't understand and sometimes you ache and you just want to cry out, "God, what's going on?" I'm going to tell you right now, because of the goodness of God, because of His sovereignty, because of who He is you don't have to understand the plan to trust God has a purpose. Many of the plans in a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. On this Christmas, as we talk about the birth of Jesus, please understand Mary and Joseph were people just like you and me, who had a plan, but I thank God that He had a purpose and His purpose was you.

You'd say, "Well, I try to be a good person and I'm better than some and maybe not as good as others. Sure, I've done some things wrong, but I go to church at Christmas time and I gave money to help some guy out and I try to be a nice person. I'm doing the best I can. I hope that's good enough." If we knew each other well enough what I would do is just look at you squarely and say, "You know what? Sorry, but that's not good enough. It's simply not." No matter how hard you try you can't try hard enough to be good enough for God. If we were talking openly you would admit, as I have to, you've done some things wrong and I've done some things wrong, and let's call it what it is, we've sinned.

We've done some horrible things and the truth is that our sins separate us from God. Our sins separate us from God and that's why this Christmas story matters. The story of Jesus is called the gospel and gospel means good news. This is the good news, God had a purpose. God loved you so much that He sent His son, Jesus, who was born and lived without sin so that he could become the perfect sacrifice on the cross for us. He died for our sins. On the third day the stone was rolled away, it wasn't there. Why? Because Jesus rose from the dead. Why? Because God had a purpose so that anyone, and this includes you, no matter who you are, no matter what you've done, no matter how dark your life has been, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved and forgiven.