Planning with God
A new year means new goals and new plans, right? A lot of you have made conscious decisions on what you wanted your 2021 to look like and maybe you made those decisions in comparison to how your 2020 went. You made your vision board, wrote your plans down in your journal, you secured your accountability partner to make sure to keep you focused on your goals throughout the year, and you may have even prayed and asked God to help to keep you focused on your goals. How admirable. I’m sure God is proud of you for writing the vision and making it plain but, what if in the process of your planning, He spoke to you and told you to let go of your plan and accept His?
I don’t find it ironic that 2 weeks ago I told myself almost daily to take some time away from my busy schedule to write down the goals and plans that I have for this year but, for some reason I never got the chance to do so. Last week my pastor’s sermon topic was, “Deliverance from the deadline,” and just this week I started a daily devotional with a family member that teaches on setting goals as a Christian. Mind blowing I know! Some would say, “look at God!”
Often times we make plans or goals for our life and don’t take one second to consult God about them. We don’t pray or seek God to know if these are the things that He would like us to be doing at this given time. The Bible does say in Habakkuk 2:2, “The Lord answered me and said: write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” I was taught that one important key component in understanding scripture is that you should always read the chapter before to understand the current passage that you are reading, for in doing so, you will have a better understand of what you’re reading. In Habakkuk chapter one, the Prophet Habakkuk started a conversation with God. This conversation continued into chapter 2. I pointed that out to say that before God told Habakkuk what He did in Habakkuk 2:2 the Prophet Habakkuk was already speaking with God, that goes to say, that in anything, even in our planning and goal setting we should consult God first. Engage in conversation with Him. For when we do, He’ll lead us in the right direction.
I know letting go and surrendering to God what we’ve planned and envisioned for ourself is hard to do. If you say otherwise, I think you’re lying. Surrendering is hard, trusting is hard and having faith sometimes is hard, but all of it is necessary in our walk with Christ. For the past few years I’ve found myself praying for God to keep me on His plan for my life. I don’t know where it came from but each time I say it, it reminds me that His plan is the BEST plan!
Verses 3 & 4 of Habakkuk chapter 2 are also important in planning and goal setting. Know that visions and plans are for an appointed time, God plans do not lie and sometimes you’ll have to wait. Remember that if He said it, it will surely happen (at its appointed time)!
Are your plans greater than His? I sure hope not. This week, make a conscious decision to surrender your plans to Him and seek Him for what He wants you to be doing in this season.
AMG