No Plan B

Bill Yount: "There is No Plan B... You Are My Plan A"
from the Elijah List website

Isaiah 54:2-4 (MKJV) "Make the place of your tent larger and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes; for you shall break out on the right hand and on the left. And your seed shall inherit the nations and people will inhabit ruined cities. Do not fear; for you shall not be ashamed, nor shall you blush; for you shall not be put to shame; for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more."

Recently while praying, facing a great challenge, I heard the Father say, "There is no Plan B." It dawned on me that since God was saying there is no plan B, that this means I am not plan B either...I am still God's plan A. A great burden lifted off of me as all my doubts over the many years, where I thought I had missed God or made too many mistakes and failures, just vanished as He spoke those few words to me. I believe right now the enemy is trying to convince many in the Body of Christ that they have missed God's plan A for their lives. All through the Bible God's chosen battled with that lie. As long as the enemy can get you thinking about a possible plan B, you will be double-minded in all you do and you won't be able to focus on God's plan A for your life.

"For the Gifts and Calling of God are Without Repentance" Romans 11:29

I wonder when Peter denied Christ three times if he thought plan A for him was out of the question? But look whom God chooses to preach the first sermon on the day of Pentecost to bring in 3,000 souls! Peter allowed his denial to drive him deeper into Christ, and as a result Peter became a strong tent stake in the New Testament Church as God added to the Church daily (Acts 2:47).

I wonder if Joseph wondered where God's plan A went as he looked up out of the dark pit that his wicked brothers threw him into. Perhaps he lived with the regret of the mistake of telling them his dream. Later sitting in prison for about 12 years, in spite of his innocence, must have given him some doubts if God's plan for his life had actually changed to plan C. But as he goes from the pit to the prison to the palace, he discovers it was God's plan A all along! God was in all of the above!

Jonah runs in the opposite direction of God's call to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to them. He ends up in the belly of a whale. He saw the plan of death beginning to take place for him, but the whale gets sick because God's plan A is in its belly, and as Jonah cries out to the Lord, the whale spits him out so he can still get to Nineveh! (See Jonah 2.)

It's Time to Drive a Stake in the Ground and Proclaim, "I Am God's Plan A"

I believe the Lord sees our mistakes differently than we do. A friend of mine was sharing about a retreat he went on with the Lord. The first couple days He was confessing to the Lord his shortcomings and was telling the Lord that he felt he had made too many mistakes in his life and ministry. He was telling the Lord how He should have been more cautious and made less mistakes. A day later the Lord spoke to him, "Son, I can turn a mistake into a miracle."

As the Lord spoke to me that there is no plan B, I saw the word mistake highlighted in the Spirit. I could see that the word "mistake" has the word "stake" in it, and it also has the letter A in it. I believe the Lord is showing that in spite of many mistakes and adverse situations, we still have a stake with plan A in it, and we need to drive that stake into the ground and proclaim, "I am God's plan A!" I believe this stake can become the tent stake in Isaiah 54:2 "strengthen your stakes..." in order for God to expand His Kingdom.

As you drive your tent stake into the ground you will discover it has to be pounded hard to go deep into solid ground to make the place of your tent larger. I believe the reason we have lost focus of our lives being plan A is because of the pounding of everyday life, the enemy, and certain people who have come against us who have helped to pound us deeper into the ground.

I saw the imprint of plan A on the head of the stake to be driven into the ground, which represented our purpose and destiny so the tent could be stretched out. But through the many years of being pounded, the letter A has worn off of the head of the tent stake and we have lost focus of God's plan A and become weary and seemingly have lost our identity. Now we must see by faith that we are still plan A and be willing to be driven even deeper as we give God the permission to use whatever and whomever He chooses for us to go deeper. How deep? All I know is that the tent peg or stake is the most hidden part of the tent, driven so deep in order to hold the expansion of our tent that God has in mind.

"Let 'Them' Stretch Out the Curtains of Your Dwellings..." Isaiah 54:2

As I was pondering this Scripture, I was wondering who "them" was. I sense the Lord showing me that "them" are "whoever will" may come to stretch the curtains of our habitations. Stay alert, "them" could represent your neighbor, your community, your city, and your nation, who will challenge you to be stretched. We must be open to different faces, different places and different ideas that are coming our way from those who are coming to pull the life of Christ out of us!

Make sure your tent peg or stake goes deep into solid ground. Be open, because their pulling on the Christ in us will result in stretching us into their arts, their music, their media and their world. We must allow them to pull on us and stretch us into their dark habitations in order for us to be the light rising in gross darkness. Different faces and all kinds of people are coming to stretch us. The governments of our cities and nations will be pulling on us for answers. We must grant God permission to allow them to stretch us.

Endure the pounding, the stretching has begun!

Bill Yount
Blowing the Shofar Ministries
Email: theshofarhasblown@juno.com