How many times have you heard someone say, “We don’t plan to fail – we just fail to plan”? Yes, it is true that I have never planned to fail; but how can I plan for something that hasn’t happened yet? Like most people, I think, I am better at reacting to the present than planning for the future. “Hind sight is twenty-twenty,” but by that time it is too late to plan. It has taken me much too long to realize that the Holy Spirit dwelling inside me has access to the future and is the perfect source to consult when planning. We can also seek out the wise advice of someone who has “been there and done that”; whether it is a trip, event or pursuing a dream or goal.
Thankfully, my bride-to-be had 18 months to plan our wedding while I was stationed on Okinawa. She didn’t use a professional wedding planner, but I know she consulted others about the details. The only planning I was involved with was choosing a best man and deciding to take our vows from the book of Ruth instead of the traditional vows. That event was, like my bride, perfectly beautiful.
A friend reminded me of another familiar saying the other day. “If you want to make God laugh – show Him your plans.” I always thought that sounded too much like it describes a fiendish god who enjoys wrecking our plans. That certainly is not the God of love, mercy and grace that I know, worship and serve. I think when God laughs at our plans it is because He has plans for us that are infinitely better than the ones we come up with. Jeremiah wrote a letter to the Jews in exile. If they even had plans, they were short term ones about their current situation. Hope was a thing of the past. In that letter, Jeremiah quotes God, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29-11) We cannot plan better than when we pray for God to show us His plans for us and then follow the prompting of His Holy Spirit to achieve them.
I will be 78 years old in a few days. My future here is much shorter than most of you who are reading this. At this stage of my life, I live one day at a time and watch God’s plans for me come together. I think maybe that is the way I should have been living all along.