HAVE YOU MADE YOUR PLANS?

"Commit your plans to the Lord and you will succeed!"

Prov 16:3

I have encountered many people who live life day-to-day and call it faith. They use scripture to say do not worry about tomorrow, and then prefer not to think about it. They rationalise it by thinking that GOD knows what will happen and He will look out for us, which is true, but it's only half the story.

I ask myself; is this the way that GOD would have us wisely manage His resources? Is time not the rarest resource we have? When we lose loved ones, a common feeling is that we wish we could have had more time with them. Time to learn, time to tell how much we loved them, time just to be together. So how can we make the best use of this time?

The scripture from Proverbs starts off by telling us to commit our plans. That means... we probably need to be making plans! Logically, if you don't have plans, you can't commit them to the Lord.  So, is this in contradiction to the scripture in Mat 6:34? I don't think so, the Bible clearly tells us not to worry and not to be anxious but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't have plans.  The rest of the scripture in v34 goes on to say that today has enough concerns for itself.  In other words, the scripture is saying that our focus should be on today.  But... then why make plans for tomorrow?

Perhaps the key to our Proverb 16:3 is not so much about making plans as much as it is about our commitment to GOD.  In order to focus on today, we can't be worrying about the plans that we've made for tomorrow - that's why GOD wants us to commit them to Him.  We make plans because it shows what our priorities are; we hand them over to GOD because it shows where our faith is.

However, GOD is not only at the end of our planning, He should also be at the beginning.  Psalm 34 tells us that when we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  This can be read in two ways - either; GOD will give us what we desire, or; the desires that I have were put their by GOD.

Here are four reasons for making plans:

- an acknowledgement of our GOD-given heart's desires

- they are the first step unaccountability

- the embrace the power of speaking the truth

- they help us place faith in the Desire-Giver GOD 

What is GOD laying in your heart?  Are you called to write a book, move city, change jobs, marry, encourage someone, sponsor a child, give to your community, spend more time with your family or start a ministry?

May I encourage you to consider GOD's desires for you and to place them in your heart.  May I encourage you to make plans for the year and lastly, may I encourage you to faithfully commit these plans to GOD.