The Best Laid Plans

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

– James 4:13-15

The saying goes that when we fail to plan, we plan to fail. And that’s true in so many areas of life. For example, a student has a better chance for a passing grade if they get an early start on studying rather than cramming the night before the test. A young couple is more likely to become homeowners if they’re diligent about saving for a down payment. And taking full advantage of your employer’s 401(k) can help make a comfortable retirement a reality.

Our plans, however, are linked closely to our priorities. Some might live to travel

the globe and find adventure. Some might live for pleasure, family or friends. And still others might seek meaning by throwing themselves into their careers. Since we’re surrounded by no shortage of life-choices, what’s the best way to start making our plans?

“God helps those who help themselves” is a familiar phrase that seems to answer that question. What’s more, it sounds like a proverb in the Bible. But you won’t find it there. And while it’s smart to be actively engaged in those big decisions of life, this well-intentioned advice misses out on the significant ways God moves and works in our lives.

“You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God for it,” we read in the Book of James. “And when you do ask he doesn’t give it to you, for you ask in quite the wrong spirit — you only want to satisfy your own desires.”

As Christ-followers, we first need to seek God’s guidance through prayer, Bible study and the counsel of fellow Believers when it’s time to plan for those big decisions. And what’s more, the resulting action should always be one that honors God.

Have you planned for what’s most important in your life? It turns out that our Creator has. But we first need to seek his will and see things from his perspective.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord in Jeremiah 29:11. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”