By Adam Harper
I used to love the A-Team.
When I say that, I mean the good old TV show and not the movie. I realize this may be “dating” me a bit.
What isn’t to like about a MacGyver meets G.I. Joe type of show with unnecessary violence where no one seems to ever get seriously injured? It was childhood television perfection.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying it carries any deep godly meaning or that you should use the show as a framework for your theology. However, I do find interesting lessons on spirituality in it and just about everywhere.
Every show presented a problem and the A-Team was the solution. In my brain, that’s perfect. A problem is present and solution is offered. Hannibal, the leader, always had that solution and the A-Team were his chess pieces to resolution. The trademark conclusion of every show (except for the cliff hanger “to be continued” episodes) was wrapped up by Hannibal stuffing a stogie (cigar) in his mouth and stating, “I love it when a plan comes together”.
Me too Hannibal, me too.
So, what happens when my plan doesn’t work? In A-Team world, it always works. I have found, and continue to find, when matters that demand solutions present themselves, God’s solution doesn’t fit my Hannibal plans.
I believe we see an instance of this in the life of Abraham. He is promised to be the Father of many nations (Gen. 17) and yet…He sits at the age of (about) 85 with no children.
How’s that supposed to work?
If I were Abraham, I’d be thinking, “The plan you came up with God, yeah, I must not have heard that very well. So, maybe I need to call an audible. Sarah and I have a plan (Gen. 16). She’s very intelligent, so we’re going to go with that.”
Many of you know the story, so I won’t dive into the depths of it, but from that plan a son was born, Ishmael. About 15 years later, God tells Abraham Ishmael was not the son of promise, but Sarah would have a son. Abraham laughs because he is 100 and Sarah is about 90. Sarah hears the same news in the next chapter and laughs as well. Long story short, Isaac, the son of promise, is born. Imagine thinking you had this thing figured out for 15 years only to have God bring to your attention that you ran ahead. Could we pivot from our investment on that 15 years into the extraordinary and illogical (to us) plan?
I’m not sure if you’re the Hannibal type. I’m not sure if you have plans for your life, the life of your church, or not. Some people are visionary and see plans and possibilities. Some do not. Here’s the point, when our plans are so well laid out that they should work, but do not include God, we settle for Ishmael (good) plans instead of embracing Isaac (great, extraordinary, supernatural, God) plans.
Often, in the church world, we look around to see what others are doing that is successful. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I encourage it. However, I would say not to mimic it or even try to make your own version of what someone else is doing unless you and your leadership have prayed about it and feel like that the direction God’s Spirit is leading you. Too often we settle for Ishmael plans when God has so much better for us. We give up because the Isaac plan takes too long or there isn’t the buy in we were so hopeful for. The reality is, the world and even many followers of Jesus, often lean on rationale and reason. That’s not evil. However, may we (as leaders) ever grow in our ambition to hear the voice of God and never settle for anything less than His promise.
When we chase His will and His voice, His plan and purpose become clearest. We, as believers, are the chosen to exemplify Kingdom life to the world around us. We are the ones with divine expectation of supernatural plans. We are the ones that engage in those divine plans and act. We are the ones desperately dependent on the Holy Spirit within us. While we can take pleasure in our (Ishmael) plans coming together, may we never feel the pinch of regret to look back and realize we abandoned the God (Isaac) plan to chase down our own. Our plans are at enmity with His.
So, while I enjoy my good plans, I love it when HIS plan comes together.