I suppose it's the teacher in me, but I love to have a plan for both the minor and major facets of life. And this just so happens to be a season of major.
Harold and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary in July. And so, in this youthful season of our marriage, there are a lot of future considerations stacked up for planning--namely, buying a house, starting a family, and navigating careers.
With so many things to plan for, it begs the question: How should Harold and I, as followers of Christ, plan for our future?
I believe James 4:13-17 provides an answer:
"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.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."
Our plans should begin with surrendering fully to the Lord and His will. It's not, "We are going to live in this house, in this neighborhood, by this date". Rather, it is, "Lord, if this is your will, we will live in this house, in this neighborhood, by this date." It's not, "We will start trying to conceive in this month, and will have our baby by this month." Rather, it is, "Lord, if this is your will, we will start trying to conceive in this month, and will have our baby by this month." To drive home the point, it's not, "We will get this kind of job by this time in this area." Rather, it is, "Lord, if this is your will, we will get this kind of job by this time in this area."
It's the phrase that should precede all of our plans: Lord, if you will.
For the most part, Harold and I have been praying in this way--that God would accomplish his perfect will in all of these future endeavors. However, I know my heart does not always lend itself to complete, genuine surrender. And so my heart needs to be reminded of the assurance we can have in Christ when it comes to planning our future. Here are some of the truths that should compel our planning here on earth:
1 John 5:14-"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."
As we surrender our requests and plans to His good and perfect will, God hears us and responds faithfully.
Philippians 4:5-"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
As we bring forth our requests to God, we should do so prayerfully and with thanksgiving. No matter our desires or needs for the future, we should aim to display thankfulness to God, because essentially, our future is already secure in Christ for eternity.
Luke 12:18-21-"And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
We must make sure our plans are not merely self-serving and earthly like those of the rich fool. We are, as James 4 bluntly points out, a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. We must consider our plans in light of this reality and weigh the eternal value behind them.
I know that my mind and my heart are prone to wander from these peace-giving precepts as Harold and I continue to plan for our future. Maybe you feel susceptible to the same. And so I pray that the Spirit will faithfully bring to our mind these truths as we are faithful to commit them to our prayers and meditations.
Let's start planning for the future--with minds set above.
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