The Power of a Plan

“Do your homework before you go play”

“But Mom, I don’t have any homework”

How many times have you heard or participated in a conversation much like that one?

Being familiar with such dialogue, you probably already know that the truth of the matter is the student actually had an assignment, but they either forgot about it, or are putting it off in the moment for the fleeting pleasure of some leisure time.  Yet, when the report cards are handed out, there will be a reckoning, and in that moment of judgment there will be no denying that something was missed.

Plans matter.

Thinking they will avoid this trouble, the wise parent may go out to the local school supply store and purchase a daily planner for their student.  They will then explain to them that it is to be used for the recording of any and all assignments giving by the teacher.  This planner will become the lifeline of scholastics, and the decider of fates each evening of the school year.  Some schools even go so far as to provide planners and have systems where the parents and teacher sign off on the students plan each day.

Why does this matter?  Because plans matter.

Proverbs 21:5 (NKJV) The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

The proverb writer understands that the laying out of a plan will prove to be of incomprehensible value to the plan maker.

Life shows this to be true.  Farmers plan when and where they will plant there crops.  Businesses plan where they will invest, expand, and withdraw in order to maximize their profitability.  Politicians plan their campaigns, often with nuanced movements laid out weeks and months in advance.  Generals, coaches, CEOs, and many other leaders all are diligent and careful to lay out their plans for whatever they may be leading.

Friends, this same principle should also apply to our lives as Christians.  We should not be frivolous with lives.  Rather, we should be intentional about the time that God has blessed us with.  If one wants to be intentional about their money, we would expect them to have an account register and a budget.  If you are going to be intentional with your time, you ought to have a calendar/planner, and you ought to have a plan.

Some would say planning is a lack of faith.  Yet, all through the Bible we see God meeting with His leaders to lay out a plan that they then followed.  For example, Moses was given plans for the Tabernacle.  Gideon was given plans for battle.  Joshua was given plans for his attack on Jericho.  Again and again, we see God laying out the principal of planning and then carrying out that plan.  Plans sure seem to matter to God!

So, your challenge for the day is to open up your calendar, pull out a notebook, or download an app that will help you begin to make plans for your days.

An old saying goes “to fail to plan is to plan to fail.”  In other words, you will never find the success and fulfilment you desire without making a plan and working that plan through.

So what’s in going to be?  An app, a day planner, a wall calendar?  What are you going to use as your tool in planning for each day?  Don’t delay.  Start today.

Prayer:  God grant me the clarity of mind to make good plans.  Help me to be submitted to your will as I lay out a plan for the days, weeks, and months ahead.  Help me to understand that you are in control, and I am not.  However, you have called me to be diligent in preparation.  Help me to be diligent in redeeming the time you have given me.  Help me to create a plan that will bring you glory in all I do.