Curry's Chapel Church
20260510 God Writes in Pencil
  • SLIDE: Scripture James 4:15
    James 4:15 NLT
    15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
    SLIDE: Title

    Introduction

    Have you ever had a plan that was so good, so airtight, so perfectly mapped out — and then life just crumpled it up like a napkin? Maybe it was the family road trip. You had the route highlighted, the snack bag packed, the playlist loaded. And then the GPS hit you with that dreaded word: recalculating. You ended up on some back road you never planned to drive — and stumbled into the best little roadside diner you've ever eaten at, or a scenic overlook that took your breath away. Or maybe it was bigger than that. Maybe it was a career plan that fell apart, and you ended up in a completely different city, in a completely different job — and looking back, you realize that's exactly where God wanted you all along.
    🎭 Joke:
    "I'm the kind of person who makes a plan for my plan. I have a spreadsheet for my grocery list and cooking schedule when I make holiday meals. I thought I had planned out what I was going to do when I retired. Then God looked at my five-year plan and said, 'That's adorable.'" And now I’m here at Curry’s.
    Here's the context of our story today: The Apostle Paul is on his second missionary journey. He's got a team. He's got momentum. He wants to preach the gospel in the province of Asia — and that's a good plan. That's a gospel plan. But the Holy Spirit says no. So Paul pivots toward Bithynia. Another solid, strategic destination. And the Spirit says no again. Twice blocked. Twice redirected. And what happens next changes the entire trajectory of Western civilization.
    📖 Scripture: Acts 16:6–10
    "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
    Here's our thesis for today: three truths about what happens when God edits your plans — because the God who writes your story writes in pencil, and His eraser is just as inspired as His pen.

    Main Teaching

    SLIDE: Truth 1

    Truth 1: God's "No" Is Redirection, Not Rejection

    When the Holy Spirit blocked Paul from going to Asia and then from entering Bithynia, He wasn't saying "stop preaching." He wasn't saying "you're disqualified" or "I'm done with you." He was saying, "Not there. Not yet. I have something else." That distinction changes everything. Because most of us, when we hear God say no, we translate it as rejection. We hear, "You're not good enough." We hear, "God doesn't care." But that's not what a divine "no" means. A divine "no" is a divine redirect.
    🔑 Object Lesson:
    Hold up a phone with a GPS map. "When your GPS says 'Recalculating,' you don't pull over and cry. You don't assume the GPS hates you. You don't throw the phone out the window and declare, 'I guess I'm just not meant to arrive anywhere!' You trust that it's finding a better route. God's 'no' is His recalculating — and His algorithm is always perfect."
    💡 Illustration:
    Let’s think of someone who applied for a job they desperately wanted — the perfect position, the perfect company, the perfect salary — and they didn't get it. They were devastated. They questioned God. They questioned themselves. And then a year later, they're in a different position in the right city, in the right church, married to the right person. They couldn't see it then, but God's "no" was the most loving word He ever spoke to them. The rejection was the protection.
    📖 Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11
    "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
    📖 Scripture: Proverbs 16:9
    "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."
    So here's the application: What "no" are you fighting right now? What door keeps closing no matter how hard you push? What if that closed door isn't God punishing you — but God protecting you? What if the detour is the destination?
    SLIDE: Truth 2

    Truth 2: God's Edits Are Purposeful and Personal

    Paul's redirection wasn't random. It wasn't some cosmic accident. It led to Macedonia — to Philippi — where a businesswoman named Lydia opened her heart and her home to the gospel. Where a Philippian jailer and his entire household came to faith in the middle of the night after an earthquake broke open prison doors. One of the most beloved churches in the New Testament was born in that city. And the letter Paul later wrote to them — the letter to the Philippians, the "joy letter," the one where he says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" — that letter exists because Paul's original plan failed. Now, let that sink in.
    🎭 Joke:
    "Some of you are living in Chapter 3 and complaining about the plot. But God's already written Chapter 12, and let me tell you — it's a page-turner."
    💡 Illustration:
    The greatest movements in Christian history were born from detours. Fanny Crosby lost her sight as an infant due to a doctor's error — and her blindness gave the church some of its most beloved hymns. She wrote over 8,000 songs, and she once said she wouldn't trade her blindness for anything because the first face she would ever see would be the face of Jesus. C.S. Lewis's devastating grief after losing his wife produced A Grief Observed, one of the most honest books ever written about faith in the dark places. The early church's persecution scattered believers across the known world — and the gospel went with them. Every single detour was a divine setup.
    📖 Scripture: Romans 8:28
    "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
    📖 Scripture: Isaiah 55:8–9
    "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
    Here's the application: Stop editing God's edits. You don't have the full manuscript. You don't see every chapter. Trust the Author. He knows how the story ends, and it ends with His glory.
    SLIDE: Truth 3

    Truth 3: Our Posture Matters — Availability Over Ability

    Here's what I love about Paul. When the doors closed — twice — he didn't quit. He didn't sit down and write a letter of resignation to the Jerusalem Council. He didn't pout. He didn't say, "Well, I guess God doesn't need me after all." He kept moving. He went to Troas and stayed available. And that's where the vision came. Not while he was sulking. Not while he was fighting the closed doors. It came while he was positioned, present, and available.
    💡 Illustration:
    There's a difference between passive waiting and active availability. Paul wasn't sitting in a Troas hotel room binge-watching Netflix. He was praying. He was listening. He was ready. And when the vision of the man from Macedonia came, Paul didn't need a week to think it over. He didn't form a committee. The text says they got ready "at once. Immediately.” That's the posture of availability — ears open, bags packed, heart surrendered.
    🎭 Joke:
    let me tell you: "God's looking for volunteers, not victims. He's not going to drag you to Macedonia. But if you show up in Troas with your bags packed, He'll show you the boat."
    📖 Scripture: Isaiah 6:8
    "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"
    📖 Scripture: Psalm 37:23
    "The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him."
    So here's the question: Are you available? Not just busy for God — available to God? There's a difference. Busy is your agenda with God's label slapped on it. Available is God's agenda with your "yes" attached to it. Busy says, "Lord, bless what I'm doing." Available says, "Lord, show me what you're doing, and let me join in."
    SLIDE: Conclusion

    Conclusion - Follow the Pencil Marks

    Because Paul followed the pencil marks — the erasures, the redirections, the divine edits — the gospel reached Europe. Philippi heard the good news. Then Thessalonica. Then Athens. Then Corinth. Then Rome. Western civilization was shaped. The faith spread to every corner of the earth. And you and I are in church today because one man let God rewrite his itinerary.
    💡 Illustration:
    "I stopped writing my plans in ink a long time ago. Not because my plans don't matter — they do. But because God's plans matter more. And His eraser is grace, and His pencil is providence, and the story He's writing with your life is better than anything you could plot on your own."
    So here's my challenge to you this week: Take your plans — your career plan, your retirement plan, your relationship plan, your five-year plan — and hold them with open hands. Not clenched fists. Open hands. And say, "Lord, write in pencil. Edit as you see fit. I trust the Author."
    SLIDE: Prayer

    Closing Prayer

    Father, we come to You right now with open hands and surrendered hearts. We confess that we've been holding our plans too tightly — gripping them like they're ours alone. Forgive us for fighting Your edits. Forgive us for mistaking Your redirection for rejection.
    We thank You for closed doors that were really Your protection. We thank You for the "no" that we didn't understand then — but can see now was the most loving thing You could have said.
    Lord, give us the posture of Paul — not passive, but available. Not defeated, but expectant. Help us to keep moving when the doors close, — to keep listening when the path isn't clear, and to say "yes" at once when You finally reveal the Macedonia You've been preparing for us.
    We trust the Author. Write in pencil, Lord. Edit as You see fit. Our lives are Yours.
    In Jesus' name, Amen.

      • James 4:15NKJV

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