PLANNING: IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, YOU’RE GOING TO END UP SOMEWHERE ELSE
“To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. The LORD works out everything for his own ends-- even the wicked for a day of disaster.” Prov 16:1-3 (NIV)
Big Idea: Wise people have a sense of what God wants and have made plans to achieve them. Wise people know where they are going and have plans on how to arrive there.
God has a purpose for every person. Discovering this and fulfilling it the essence of life.
Most people do not have any plan with their lives. They go through life without a clear picture of what God wants. They have no idea of their God-given destination. This reminds me of a story I read about Albert Einstein.
Albert Einstein
Some years ago the great thinker was on a train bound for New York City. As the ticket taker came walking through the car, Einstein reached into his pocket to retrieve his ticket, but could not find it. He frantically searched his coat pockets, turned his pants pockets inside out, but still could not produce the ticket.
The ticket taker said, ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Einstein, we all know who you are. Forget about it.’ About 20 minutes later, the ticket taker came back through the car, and by this time Einstein was on the floor searching everywhere for the lost ticket.
Again the ticket taker tried to reassure Einstein by saying, ‘I told you not to worry about the lost ticket. We trust that you purchased one, and that is good enough for us.’
Einstein looked up at the railroad employee and said, ‘Young man, this isn’t a matter of trust but of direction. I need to find the ticket because I forgot where I am going.”
Do you have a clear sense of where you want to go in life? Are you headed toward that destination, moving away from that destination, or simply standing idle? The first foundational secret for wise living is simply this: Wise people have a sense of their God-given destination and have made plans of going there. Wise people know where they want to go in life and have a plan for getting there.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
No body arrives at their destination in life by accident. The only thing that arrives at its intended destination by accident is airline luggage. In fact, without a plan, we tend to drift away from our dreams.
Sadly, not many people are into planning. Most people in Asian hope in good fate. They just accept whatever comes. In one of recent seminars, a brother brought out a disturbing observation. He said, “Most Overseas Filipino Workers who have broken families” came to Hong Kong and work here for many years did not have a plan. They just came to work to support their family. These wives leave their husbands for years – 2-20 years seeing them only for a month every two years. The longer a wife stays away from home, the more likely that she will end up with a broken family.” (Mr. Rolly Estrella, Omsbudman member, Philippine Consulate in HK)
Finish atheist who left his farm to the devil
Recently I read a story of a Finnish atheist who stated in his will that he wanted to leave his farm to the devil. When he died, the legal system was dumbfounded over how to honor the request. Finally, after weeks of deliberation, the court decided that the best way to carry out the farmer’s wishes was to permit the weeds and briars to taker over the farmland, to allow the house and barn to remain unpainted and eventually rot, and to let the soil erode and wash away. The court declared in its ruling, “The best way to let the devil have possession of anything is to do nothing.
The best way to allow Satan to destroy your dreams is to do nothing. Continue to live with no action plan, and you will never arrive at your desired destination in life. Why? There is a law that works in the natural world that is also operative in your life: the second law of thermodynamics. This principle, simply stated, tells us that the physical world is decaying and that the direction of all creation is downward, not upward. Everything eventually runs down. Everything is decaying.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Cor 3:16 (NIV)
Have you ever wondered why a garden left untended eventually becomes overgrown with weeds? The answer is that everything in the world is decaying.
What is true in the physical world is also true about your life. If you don’t believe that, just ask yourself a few questions. Does your body tend to get healthier as you age? Does your vision improve the longer you live? Can you hear better when you are sixty that when you were twenty? If unchecked, the same decay that pulls your physical body downward will also destroy other parts of your life. Because of the sin nature we inherited from Adam, we do not naturally drift toward God or moved toward His plan for our lives. Instead, if we do not exert a proactive counter effort, the natural course of events will lead to the depletion of financial resources, the disintegration of our families, the deterioration of our bodies, and yes, the destruction of our souls.
That is why it is essential to develop a plan to reverse the natural direction of your life and transport you to your desired destination. A plan is simply a road map for getting you to your desired destination in life.
King Solomon demonstrates wisdom in his career: he had a clear objective that of building a magnificent temple for the worship of God. At the beginning of his reign, he called the people together and said: “Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my GOD.” (1 Kings 5:5)
Notice that Solomon had a clear objective in mind, but he knew that the temple would not build itself. He did not over spiritualize his dream by saying, “If the Lord wants this temple built, it will happen in His way and in His time.” If you looked at Solomon, you will discover that the wise king worked from a well-developed plan:
1. He gathered the necessary resources: cedars were cut from Lebanon (1 Kgs 5:6)
2. He organized the people. “Solomon assigned 70,000 men to carry loads, and 800,000 men to quarry stone in the mountains, and 3,600 to supervise them.” 2 Chro 2:2)
3. He designed the facility (2 Chro 3:3)
4. He set a time to begin his project (2 Chro 3:2)
5. He completed the project: “Thus all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the LORD was finished.” (2 Chro 5:1)
Solomon clearly understood the importance of developing a plan.
“Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success.” Proverbs 15:22
“You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:21
“Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without the advice of others.” Proverbs 20:18
“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5
COMMON OBJECTIONS TO PLANNING
The Bible is against planning
“Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:13-15
A closer examination of these words reveals that James is not opposed to planning. Instead, he is warning against planning without God. The foundational question we should ask about any goal we establish should be, “Is this plan in keeping with God’s will for my life?”
Contentment: Is contentment?
What does it mean to be contended? Does it mean I should have my desires limited to that which I already have, and that which I have already achieved. Or does being contended mean I should have my desires limited to that which I am convinced God wants me to have, and that which God wants me to achieve. The first statement reflects laziness, the sluggard’s philosophy. The latter shows dependence on Christ’s lordship.
Goals that are within the will of God and that are designed for the glory of God is pleasing to God!!!
What If I fail in my plan? Remember Nehemiah 4:1-3 Sanballats
“I have plenty of time, so what’s the hurry? Or “I do not have enough time, so why bother?”
The first one believes he has plenty of time, the other believes there’s not much time.
Steve Farrar warns “Our continual mistake is that we do not concentrate upon the present day, the actual hour, of our life; we live in the past or the future; we are continually expecting the coming of some special hour when our life shall unfold itself in its significance. And we do not observe that life is flowing like water through our fingers, sifting the precious grain from a loosely fastened bag.” (Steve Farrar, Anchor Man (Nashville, Ten.: Nelson, 1998), 91).
“Instant Coffee Theory of Life” (Instant Orange Juice Theory of Life)
Rabbi Harold Kushner describes this theory as similar to our tendency that when you open a new jar of instant coffee, you tend to dole it out in generous portions because, after all, you have an entire jar of coffee. But halfway down the jar, you become more conservative, and by the time you reach the bottom of the jar, you’re measuring your portions more carefully, reaching into the corners of the jar for every last grain. In the same way, when we are young, we tend to be careless with our time, thinking we have our entire lives to achieve our dreams. But by the time we reach the end of our years, we ask ourselves, “How did it go by so quickly?” Harold Kushner, When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough (New York: Pocket Books, 1986), 158-59.
“Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone. Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Psalm 90:10-12
HOW TO SET UP MEANINGFUL GOALS FOR YOUR LIFE
How do you set develop a plan that will get you from where you are to where you believe God wants you to be in your marriage, your finances, your career, ministry, and your spiritual life?
First, you need a clarifying purpose. This is the big question each one must know. What are we on earth for? Why do you exist? The answer is clear: We all live to glorify God. The purpose of our lives is to glorify God. Rick Warren provides more help with a five point purpose plan:
• Worship: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
• Fellowship/Membership: God wants you to be a contributing part of his body
• Maturity: God wants you to be spiritually mature – Christlikeness
• Ministry: God wants you to meet a need in the world and in the body of Christ
• Mission: God wants to communicate to the world through you
This clarifying purpose involves something that you are passionate about. My passion is the family. I want to see more families brought to Christ. I want to see more fathers leading their families well. What are you passionate about? Bob Biehl, president of Masterplanning Group International, suggests six questions to help you identify your passion:
1. What needs that I see in the world are of concern to me?
2. If I could meet any need in the world, what need would I meet?
3. What are the most urgent needs in my country, my community, my work, my school, and my church?
4. What age group or type of people naturally interests me?
5. What are the major needs among my neighbors, my friends, and my family?
6. If I do not meet these needs, who will?
Remember also that your life’s purpose should involve something for which God has given you special gifts. I believe that God has called each one of us to fulfill a unique purpose in the world.
Your purpose is the big picture. You can’t stop there. You must connect your purpose with your life – your daily life. You must have clarifying objectives. Define what you want to be as a follower of Christ? Clarify what do you want to do? Write this down. Write something and then share it with your heavenly Father. Consider the basic components life such as: Spiritual, Physical, Family, Vocational, Personal, Growth, Social, and Financial.
Purpose and objectives must be broken down to concrete goals. Goals are the vehicles by which you translate your dream into reality. Someone said that a goal is a desired accomplishment that is easily measured by time and performance. We all need to set short term, smaller, achievable, and measurable goals. Goals keep us from being overwhelmed by our objectives. Goals empower us to fulfill the bigger ones. It is like eating an elephant. You eat an elephant “a piece at a time.” Every bite brings you closer to your objective and your purpose.
Let me close by sharing with you how I got one of my graduate degrees: Master of Theology. I got invited to join a 15-month ThM along with 18 other candidates from all over Asia. We had Australians, Malaysian, Singaporeans, Indians, Burmese, and a few Filipinos. Unlike my colleagues who got Sabbatical leaves and scholarships, I had to work to support my family and my studies. The schedule was intense. We had 6-8 hours of classes from Monday to Saturday. We took one class at a time as the professors had to be flown in from other parts of the world for one week or two weeks. The one week classes were the toughest. As all graduate students know, writing papers, doing research, deadlines are a few of the challenges that a graduate study has to take. I had to write two major papers for each class. I also had to present a thesis, defend it, and publish it.
What helped Emma and I during those months was learning to set up small goals at a time. Finish one class at a time. Pay my tuition one subject at a time. Live one day at a time. And lots of celebrations. Emma and I celebrated every day, and especially Saturdays. My dad passed away that time. Agatha was born during that time.
Let me close this rather lengthy message today by encouraging you to sit and ask the Lord how you can plan your live according to God’s plan. (Materials from this sermon are most taken from Robert Jeffrey’s Book, Solomon’s Secrets of Success).
