Planning to Succeed - Martin Wiles

Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house. Proverbs 24:27 NLT

My name was in the pot, and with God’s help, I was planning to succeed.

Type A’s are known for planning—sometimes to excess. I was cursed from birth. Both my parents were Type A’s, and I followed suit. Every church I had led, I did so with a plan, and this time would be no different. When the board recommending me to the church asked if I had a vision for their church, I removed a pad and read off my list. I didn’t know if I’d be their pastor, but I had a plan just in case. 

Solomon’s advice was pertinent. Building a house before preparing one’s fields was foolish. Suppose a dry spell hit or enemies swooped in and stole the crop. Saving from a bountiful harvest and then building the house made more sense than taking on debt with no assurance of how to pay for it. 

When planning, we should make a point to include God. Since God says he wants to be involved in the details of our lives, involving him only makes sense. Although he won’t sit around a table and talk audibly to us, we can listen as he speaks to our spirits with his Spirit. Ideas will come that we would have never thought of on our own. Insights will flow. And we’ll feel a sense of peace when we’ve received his directions.

We should also include others in our planning. Although I had a list of plans before leading the church, I immediately began to include others. Amazingly, most of their suggestions were the same as mine, which assured me they also included God in their planning. Two heads are better than one, and lone rangers often become just that—alone. 

We can plan with confidence when we include God and other spirit-led believers. We can then couple confidence with optimism. If God is before and in the middle of the plans, they won’t fail. In fact, God’s plans can’t fail—which means we won’t when he is the author of our plans. Good planning means having a backup plan. I’ve often appeared to mess up God’s plan for my life, but somehow, he always brings the plan back to his plan. 

Get your plans from God and confidently move forward into your bright future.

Father, I ask for your guidance as I plan to accomplish your will. 

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Throwback Tuesday - Driven by Dreams - Martin Wiles

Driven by Dreams

Dreams can be the goad that drives us into God’s bright future.

Dreams are puzzling. During the Old Testament and early church period, God often spoke through them to reveal his message. Some today put a great deal of stock in dreams, supposing they contain secret meanings. Noted psychologist Sigmund Freud believed this. Many, however, put absolutely no faith in them at all. Still, others believe they represent the night’s release of what we’ve experienced and thought about during the day. Read more...

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When Plans Go Awry - Martin Wiles

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21 NLT

I had a purpose … or so I thought.

At twelve, I perceived God’s purpose for me was to be a Bible teacher—but I made no plans. The temptations of adolescence soon grasped me in their clutches, and I put God’s purpose in the background.

When in my early twenties, I once again felt God’s pricking—this time to be a preacher in addition to a Bible teacher. The difference between this time and the one before was that I made plans. I knew I had to attend college.

During my college journey, God impressed upon me His purpose to teach the Bible at a college, in addition to preaching. I knew this would mean further education. Another college nearby had an arrangement with my college concerning a master’s degree. All credits I had earned would transfer.

Everything seemed in place. Until the bottom fell out. My wife lost her job and couldn’t find another one. I couldn’t work and attend college too. Before I knew it, we were moving back to South Carolina, I had only a bachelor’s degree, and I didn’t have a master’s in education. At least, I could preach. The teaching … well … I didn’t know what happened to those plans.

King Solomon had wisdom … and he planned. He also had enough sense to know God’s purpose would win out in the end—regardless of any plans he had made.

Why what I comprehended as God’s plan didn’t work out the way I felt Him leading, I can’t answer. In literature, we call such an occurrence a plot twist. The story moves in one direction, and we think we have it figured out, but suddenly things turn out in a way we didn’t expect. Life happens the same sometimes. Mine did.

But this much I know. God has a plan for each of His children. He also expects us to plan according to our perception of His plan. Essential in the mix is prayer—before, during, and after planning. In the end, however, God determines how things work out. Our job requires learning contentment regardless of how God plans the plot outcome. He will work all things together for our good and His glory.

Whether your life turns out as you planned, be content, knowing God is in control and has good things in store for you.

Prayer: Father, our lives are in Your hands. Do with them as You wish.

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