Why God Doesn’t Give Details

• At every point along the way  in my journey as a leader, God did not give me details  until I gave him obedience. As much as we think we would like for God to  come down and give us all of the details for what we need to do about this relationship in  our life, this business decision in our life, this custody situation in our  life, this legal issue in our life, this financial trouble in our life, this  loan offer, this crossroads in our life… As much as we think we would love God to give  us the details, what good would the details of
• what God wants you to do next be if you were  not obedient to the last thing he told you to do? I’ve found so many times in my life, as  a principle, that details follow obedience. We want it just the other  way, exactly the other way: obedience follows details.
• “Show me the  entire path, God, and then I’ll take the first step.” But watch this. Graham, come  up on the stage. That was pretty quick. Right? He even ran. Did all that with  no details. Obedience with no details. He didn’t sit out there and ask, “For what?  Come up there for what? Nice for what to this preacher? For what?” He didn’t ask any of  that.
• He didn’t say, “How long do you need me up there?” He didn’t say, “What do you intend  to do with the footage, archivally speaking, after this live illustration has ended?” And now  that he did it, he knows. Now go sit back down. I needed you to illustrate  that details follow obedience. Now you know how long I wanted you up here,  because you came.
• I wanted you up here that long for that reason to prove this point:  details follow obedience. Say it. “Details follow obedience.” That’s right. Details follow  obedience. I know you want God to show you seven weeks from now, but details follow forgiveness.  Mm, I’m getting a little too specific now. The lesson of my life that I wish I didn’t have  to learn through doing it the wrong way is that usually what I thought and what God saw are  two totally different things.
• Somebody say, “Many are the plans.” Many are the plans. There  have been so many plans that I have had in my heart, in my mind, and in my life that,  looking back on them, I thought too small. I didn’t think big enough because I  didn’t pray big enough. I thought too small. Have you ever thought too small?  “Many are the thoughts.
• ” Everybody say, “Many are the thoughts.” Y’all know I  love wordplay, so I mean “Many are the thoughts” and I mean “Mini are the thoughts.”  My thoughts have been so mini through the years. Do you remember, LB, when we were meeting at  the senior center? This was when the church was very young. Y’all don’t know nothing  about the senior center days.
• We pulled up for the grand opening, and I looked  around at that room that would seat 200 people. We were just getting started.  I said to Chunks at the grand opening, “This will be an amazing place for us to  meet. It will last us five years, and then we’ll probably have to go to two services.” Five  years. Everybody say, “Many are the thoughts.
• ” That’s what I thought: five years, and we  would go to two services. In five months, we had outgrown the building, because my  thoughts were mini thoughts. You follow me? I thought too small because I started with  me. I thought too small because I started with where I was from. I thought too small  because I started with what I had seen.
• The problem is a lot of times in your life you  make plans based on the pictures you’ve seen, but the pictures you’ve seen are not all there  is to the purpose of the God who has saved you and made a plan for your life. So, what if you are  making plans off of the wrong picture? “Many are the thoughts.