“And Abraham said unto God, ‘O that Ishmael might live before thee!’” Genesis 17:18, KJV

In your effort to fulfil your God-given dream or vision for your life, there will always be times when you will hit an impasse. Impasses are not all bad; in fact, they can often be good because they can be a great time of testing and trying of your faith. I like to say this: God works in the delay. I say that because when we pray and don’t see the results we are hoping for, that is a real Character Builder. An impasse is a delay, a situation in which no progress seems possible, especially because of disagreement.

You may be at an impasse right now. It has caused you to come to a standstill. In this situation you are in there seems to be no progress, and it seems at least humanly impossible for it all to come to pass. Now, I mentioned ‘especially because of disagreement’ above because sometimes when you do not know what to do next, you have to be very careful what you say or do. That’s because you could say something or do something stupid. The worst thing you and I can do when we are at an impasse is to try to figure out a Plan B.

When you are at an impasse you have to be careful not to reason within yourself and begin to disagree with what God has called you to do. Often what many do is they begin to redesign God’s Plan, try to make it fit into the current circumstances. This is dangerous territory.

Look again at what Abraham said when he came to an impasse in his God-Plan: “O, that Ishmael might live before thee!” Ishmael may have been his firstborn son but it was from a relationship with Sara’s slave girl, Hagar.

When God said Abraham would be a Father of Nations, God didn’t mean for him to sleep with a slave girl to birth Plan B. If you read carefully about his story, you will never read anything about Abraham praying about going into Hagar. When Sara suggested it, he ran to her tent! We have to – we need to – hear from God before we take any step, especially when we’ve been wondering about a Plan B.

Food for thought: Out of Ishmael was birthed the Arab Nations. Abraham was the first Hebrew or Jew. As you can see today many Arab countries despise Israel, even today. That, my friend, is the result of not sticking to Plan A. Plan B is missing the mark. Plan B can cause you many a problem and worry. I’m not talking about pregnancies and children so much here, but situations and scenarios can be uncomfortable for everyone when you skip Plan A and try to implement your own Plan B. My advice to you: stick to Plan A, God’s plan.

CONFESSION

“God has a plan for my life!”

PRAYER

Father God, I so desire to do Your will in my life. I want to stay the course; I do not want to drift or sway from the plan You have given me. I desire Your wisdom, Your input and the leading of the Holy Spirit to keep me on course. When I do come to an impasse, I will not allow it to become a mountain that I cannot pass. I will speak to it, I will stand firm on Your plan because I can do all things through Jesus. You empower me to do what You called me to do. I do not have to fear, doubt or question You. Plan A is what I am called to fulfil, and Plan A is what will be accomplished in my life. I look forward to the reward of hearing You say to me: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”. Amen!