Some of us are ‘planners’, we love to-do lists, schedules, and goals. Others of us like to go with the flow rather than plan things. To live in a godly way, a balance between the two is needed. We need to be able to plan things so that we use our time wisely, set goals for the future, and keep on top of all our responsibilities. As the Bible says: ‘Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity.’ If we don’t create some sort of plan for our lives, we can end up not doing the things that are necessary, and being overwhelmed by everything piling up. Planning also means that we’re prepared for the future, and have a vision for where we want to go. However, it’s important to remember that God’s plan for our lives is far better than the plans we make. We need to be prepared to surrender our plans and let Him take control. Proverbs 19:21 says: ‘Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails’ (Proverbs 19:21 NIV). We should be taking our plans to God and asking Him to guide us. He will show us which way to take (have a read of Proverbs 3:5-6). It’s also important that we don’t allow our plans to cause us to miss out on opportunities from God. We need to leave space for the Spirit to move. If we’re flexible with our plans, we can follow God’s promptings throughout the day. He might have something He wants us to do, someone He wants us to talk to, or something He wants to teach us. If we ignore these promptings because they don’t fit into our schedule then we’re missing out on kingdom opportunities. 

What Now?

If you struggle with planning, ask God to help you bring some structure and goals to your life. If you’re a planner, ask God to help you be flexible and open to His kingdom opportunities.