I like to talk about the human predisposition to be busy little planners. We plot and plan everything about our lives. If I think about it, every single second of my day is planned before I go to bed the night before. I know what time my alarm will go off, how long I have to hit the snooze button, when I will actually roll out of bed, how long it will take me to get a shower, brush my teeth, and be presentable for the day. From there, I go to prescheduled classes, I probably have already thought about what I will do for lunch, then I know exactly how long it will take me to come home. I plan time to do homework, read my Bible (which, ironically, is the thing I’m most likely to miss), and then spare a few minutes of “me time.” And that’s just a normal day! For someone like me, it isn’t crazy to have an idea what one of those normal days will be in five years, ten years, and thirty years. Or, I at least think I have an idea.
You may or may not be surprised to know that God actually has something important to tell us about our ten-year life plan. It’s simple: you don’t know what will happen. The Bible literally says that our lives are a mist. We are here one second and gone the next, and we make plans not knowing what life will bring. We only have tomorrow if God allows us to have tomorrow. So, planning without Him in mind is planning in vain.
I truly and deeply believe that planning and having goals is a good thing – with perspective. I think it is God-honoring to have a direction in life. He doesn’t want us wandering aimlessly without any notion of where we’re going. God, Himself, is a planner. After all, He plotted history before one day had happened. The problem is, there’s a clash between God’s plans and ours if we’re not consciously trying to align ourselves with it.
See, I am convinced that we, as humans, don’t use our plans and goals for their intended purpose. To us, plans and goals are a safety blanket. The idea that I can create this path for myself protects me from my worst fear: the fact that I actually have no idea. We think that we don’t need faith at all if we have a plan. In reality, we’re only guessing as to what might be on the path ahead with no real idea.
It’s like we are wandering down a tricky path in the pitch black. If I have a map, I may know where the path is supposed to go and how to get there, but that won’t help me with anything I may encounter along the way. It only gives me a general direction. Our plans and goals act the same way. They can only show a broad direction and where to begin. Either way, we’re wandering into the unknown.
The real comfort comes when we recognize that our planning can only do so much. That’s why God’s will as it is manifest in His Word is a lamp unto our feet. It may only light the way a few steps ahead, but we can take comfort that we aren’t walking in darkness. And it’s not a light of our own, so we can take comfort that we aren’t walking alone. Ultimately, none of us can even begin to imagine what the next five, ten, or thirty years will bring. So we can take our maps with us, but the journey is one step at a time, trusting the One who holds the future in His hands.
