I heard this great message from our pastor today out of Luke 19. I’ve been to church probably every Palm Sunday since I was born, but in this present season of my life focused on God’s plans and dreams for me, the words were revelatory. Have you ever noticed how Jesus, as he prepared to go in to Jerusalem, thought of every little detail for his entrance? His final trip. The text says, “he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.””
Maybe that doesn’t send a thunderbolt through you, but the explanation did. You may not know the plan until the fulfillment of it, but there’s always a plan. Our pastor said, this is not the “God has a plan” Christianity cliché, but in fact the reality that our Lord does have a plan. Down to the last details. Think about this. First, Jesus knew he’d need a colt and he knew that if his disciples went to take one someone was going to start asking some questions. So he prepared them. He knew the question would be asked, and he gave them the answer in advance. Then, he prepared the guy whose colt was about to be taken to deliver the Lord into Jerusalem. If this was any ordinary guy, don’t you think he would have said, “Yeah right, the Lord needs it. You’re NOT taking my colt.” But instead, the colt was taken, as far as we know, without altercation. That man had been supernaturally prepared to offer his colt.
This was the punch line of the message: There is a movement of the Spirit coming before the action occurs. God is preparing you, or someone you encounter, or both, through His spirit before anything even happens. That stillness. That frustration you feel because you’re not seeing the plan move forward. There’s work going on behind the scenes, friend. He’s preparing men to get a donkey for the Lord and men to give a donkey to the Lord. He. Has. A. Plan.
Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
Luke 19: 38
This is EXACTLY what our first adoption process taught me. When I so, so frustrated with infertility, an 18-year-old girl had a baby growing inside her and was praying for answers. God orchestrated it. I see it there so clearly, but I still struggle with applying it to my everyday life.