Planning to do good

Woody Allen always quipped, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." So true, isn't it? We plan one thing but find something totally different unfolding. Some fool-heartedly believe we are the makers of our own destiny. We are indeed the 'makers' of our own consequences, but are we really the makers of our own destiny? Plans change as life happens. Life choices bring either good, or not so good consequences. A consequence is just the outcome or 'output' of something that was 'input' earlier. You've likely heard the saying, "Garbage in - Garbage out". Nothing could be truer about the plans we conceive and then try to bring to fruition without God's oversight and intervention.

If you plan to do evil, you will be lost; if you plan to do good, you will receive unfailing love and faithfulness. (Proverbs 14:22)

Plan to do evil - lose it all in the end. The consequences may not be immediate, but they will come eventually. Plan to do good - unfailing love and faithfulness are your reward. I don't know about you, but I would rather receive a reward more than a consequence! The more we plan, the less we focus on listening. Don't believe me? When was the last time you listened to someone else's input into YOUR plans? You might not realize it, but the more you plan one thing, the less likely you are to consider anything else. This isn't good when God is trying to get you to a place where he can move you into something new. Your 'plans' may actually keep you rooted in the present, unwilling to consider the freshness that will come when we move away from that plan and toward God's.

Planning to do good doesn't happen by accident. It is a purposeful action on our part, taken time and time again, with a set goal in mind. We want to embrace what God has for us, so we make him the first part of our day. We want to listen to what he has to say to us, so we get into his Word and ask him to show us what he has for us within those pages. We want to have meaningful relationships, so we make the effort to focus on them. If we want a meaningful relationship with God, we must focus on it, as well. Planning to do good means we make active choices all day long to keep God front and center in our lives. When we find our planning takes priority, we need to refocus so he is once again at the center of our plans. Just sayin!

Plans aborted - begin again

Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing. (Oscar Wilde)

Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord! Give a joyous shout in honor of the Rock of our salvation! Come before him with thankful hearts. Let us sing him psalms of praise. For the Lord is a great God, the great King of all gods. He controls the formation of the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains; all are his. He made the sea and formed the land; they too are his. Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God. We are his sheep, and he is our Shepherd. Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him! (Psalm 95:1-7)

To truly 'experience' God, we have to come to him. We have to abandon our own pursuits in pursuit of him. There is much to be said about abandonment, but suffice it to say, we have to lay down if we are ever to pick up, give away if we are to get back, let go if we are to ever be held again. Life requires experience - it is riddled from birth to death with a plethora of experiences - some good, others pretty awesome. We find that how we view the experience determines how we will view the outcome.

God is in control of our lives - since he controls the formation of the depths of the earth and the mightiest of mountains, how can we argue his plan for our lives? We must experience his plan fully - meaning we might just have to lay down our own plans in order to fully be engulfed in his. Hard task, I know, but when undertaken fully, we are overtaken fully in his love, grace, power, and most importantly - his peace. 

If you have ever been pursuing a plan that didn't give you much peace, you label the things you are experiencing as 'hard', 'heartbreaking', 'tragic', or even 'life threatening'. Pursue the plan God has for your life and you might just find what has been breaking your heart wasn't all that worthy of your pursuit in the first place. Experience teaches us things - at least, that is what is supposed to happen. We are to take the good and the bad, learn from those things, and hopefully allow a change of plans as warranted.

To fully be 'within' God's plans for our lives, we have to first bring those plans to him. There will be times when he tells us our plans are bit flawed, requiring a certain adjustment. Embrace that warning and you find the course easy. Reject those adjustments and you will be in the midst of a 'hard lesson'. Experience isn't everything, but when we learn from it, we are doing well. When we reject God's instructions, we can count on a lesson or two to get us back into his presence to seek his plans once again! Just sayin!

Preparing?

There is something to be said about being prepared, but even the best preparations sometimes don’t bring the results we once hoped to realize. The benefits of preparation are that we have a plan for where we are going or what we are doing, the resources are laid aside or are immediately available, and we have a pretty good idea of what we’d like to see as the outcome. The downside to preparation is that our plans don’t always work out as we imagined, there are times the resources are just not sufficient for the things we are facing, and the outcome doesn’t always “match” what we imagined. God never discourages us from preparing or planning – he just reminds us that we need to rely upon him to guide us to the outcome which is best for us, even if it might not be the one we imagined!

Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

Hebrews 7:25 NLT

I got a call from my grandson last night, with a message relayed through his mother as they were in transit between baseball and small group. He had two questions for me because he knew I had a lot of “Jesus books” in my den. I never even knew he took notice of any of those books! His questions were simple: Where in the Bible does it tell us why God flooded the earth? He wanted to know where, but he also wanted to know why. These are two common questions we ask ourselves when we are considering things and/or preparing in life for our next steps, aren’t they? Where are we to go next, where do we look for the answers, where are the circumstances we find ourselves in at the moment going to lead us, or where does God expect us to be right now? Why is this happening, why do we need to go through this, or why is this the way it has to go down right now? We ask a whole lot of why and where questions, with a mix of how, when, and what ones mixed in.

Preparation is one thing – complete independence is another. God doesn’t discourage our enthusiastic preparation – just our stubborn belief that we “have this one” all on our own.  So many times we stubbornly go our own way simply because we think we know where to find the answers.  My fear is that I will get myself into some muddle of a mess simply because I don’t listen closely, pay attention well, or simply take steps without any preparation! Whenever I charge ahead without asking the right questions, I am not “blindly trusting” – I am being ignorant of the need to have a prepared heart, responsive spirit, and obedient mind! I am not “second-guessing” God, nor am I questioning his wisdom. I am really asking questions in my preparation because I don’t want to miss what he has prepared prior to my prep work!

Preparation involves several key things:

1) Trust placed in the right source, for any unreliable source will leave us wanting and disappointed in the outcome.  Trust is more than a mental assent – it involves belief in the one we are placing our trust in, and the commitment to leave that trust securely placed there even when the answers seem to differ from what we were counting on occurring.

2) A listening ear, with an attentive spirit because we will find it very hard to maintain trust if we aren’t keeping that two-way communication and responsiveness open between us and God.

3) An obedient mind, with a submitted will is probably the toughest part of any prep work on our part, for it requires reining in the thoughts, getting control of the will, and then leaning into Jesus for the times when neither of these seems to be possible! Just sayin!

Who is "in residence" in your life?

Wisdom has a couple of companions "in residence" with him - Good Judgment, Knowledge, and Planning.  All three make the best "roommates" for Wisdom.  If we want to have a "full house", we want all of these "in residence" within!  Get Good Judgment, Knowledge, Planning and Wisdom inside of you and you will find you make decisions a little differently - these "residents" create a culture quite different from what might be the "norm" in your life right now.

I am Wisdom. I live with Good Judgment. I am at home with Knowledge and Planning. (Proverbs 8:12 ERV)

Wisdom is not a thing, he is a person - Christ Jesus.  All wisdom comes from God because God is the embodiment of wisdom.  Wisdom is the applied knowledge we amass over the years - to have both in residence in your life suggests you are in a position of learning on a continual basis - not just to amass knowledge, but to figure out how it applies to the daily decisions you make.

Good Judgment may seem like it is the same thing as Wisdom, but it stands alone because we can possess a whole lot of knowledge and still make bad decisions.  Wisdom and Knowledge are good companions, but we need Good Judgment to assist us when we don't have time to think things through - when we need to be spontaneous or instantaneous in our decision-making.

Planning is the companion of the rest because when we apply our knowledge, we find ourselves planning our steps.  We aren't as quick to take steps which are not well-ordered and appointed as the best ones for us to take.  We find we are more apt to avoid missteps when we have invited a little Planning into our lives.

Why are these important "residents" to invite into our lives?  I think it begins with our choices.  When we have these companions living so close to us, we find that our choices are a little different than they were without these companions. I can tell you I live a little differently today with my elderly mom in residence with me than I did when it was just me living in the house.  When it was just me, I could choose to stop at the stores and window shop instead of coming home to make dinner.  I could eat a bowl of cereal at dinner if I didn't feel like cooking. I would not be concerned with shutting the doors when I showered or changed clothes.  Why?  Alone I make different decisions than when I have someone "in residence" with me. 

To have these companions in residence in our lives begins to affect how we live our lives on a daily basis.  Wisdom is the governing companion - helping us make wise choices when we might not possess all the knowledge we might need up front.  Wisdom calls upon Knowledge to reveal truth to us so that we might stand in strength in the decisions we make.  Good Judgment will tweak our choices a little - giving a little "tempering" to the ones which may not be the optimal for us.  Good Judgment helps us live life at the "optimal" level - by helping us pick and choose what it is we will respond to.  Planning is kind of there as the "leveling" factor in our lives.  When we invite a little Planning into our lives, we are taking steps to avoid wrong decisions, but also to plan for the right ones to be made.

We don't just want Wisdom - although it is a good start.  Knowledge is the beginning of wisdom - Good Judgment and Planning help us in our actual walking out of what we have learned and what we are actively applying in our lives.  Just sayin!

You decide

We all have desired or intended results to every action we take in life.  Even setting the alarm before bed is an action intended to awaken us at a particular time to afford us the opportunity to be up, dressed, and engaged in some activity.  Some of our "aims" in life are little rote - like setting the alarm to awaken in the morning.  Others are a little spontaneous - such as when someone calls and asks if you want to hang out a while.  You manage to drop a few things you have going and make plans with the individual because you enjoy the relationship and want to get together.  Still other "plans" or "aims" in life are a little more formalized, take a little longer to accomplish, and serve a specific purpose - as when we make a savings plan or choose to live by a budget.  I don't consult anyone when I set the alarm - because I "own" that activity for my life.  I do consult someone when I want to change my investments to have them perform a little better - because their expertise is appreciated as beyond the knowledge I possess alone.  When the friend calls, I may consult my mother to see if she minds me going out, but it isn't for permission as much as it is to inform her I plan on being gone for a while. Some plans require a lot of pre-planning, while others merely come together. Those which require expertise outside of our own might not always be recognized though - because we perceive we are able to handle much more than we actually are!  Learning when counsel is necessary in forming our "purpose" is important if we are to understand the difference between choosing our own way and learning from the wisdom of others.

Form your purpose by asking for counsel, then carry it out using all the help you can get. (Proverbs 20:18 MSG)

Not all counsel is wise, though.  Some counsel is based on a totally different set of values than our own - making the counsel a little less than desirable for our lives.  In seeking counsel, we need to be sure we are aligned with others who have similar values, but also that we run all counsel through the Word of God for validation or verification.  If counsel doesn't "add up" to the principles taught in the Word, it is likely not the best for us to follow.  I think this is why it is so important for us to have a "base" upon which we make our judgments or decisions.  This "base" is the minimum set of values taught in scripture - such as those found in the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Christ.  God also gives us insight into life decisions through the recorded actions of the people captured in scripture.  The narratives don't just make good reading, they are meant to help us form a basis of understanding about good and unwise decisions.

Now, I began with stating there were various types of decisions we make each day in planning our day - some very basic and elementary, others more complex and requiring more thought.  Those basic things don't need a whole lot of counsel.  I think God gives us something called common sense to handle some of those things - such as knowing it takes us one hour to get ready for work, so setting the alarm at anything less than one hour prior to our time to leave is not going to get us out the door on time.  We don't need to spend a great deal of time asking God what time to set the alarm for - he gives us the latitude to decide.  If we are struggling with finding time in our day to read the Word, pray, and learn from him in our quiet time, this might be something he wants us to get some counsel about - figuring out how to order our day so we can carve out that time.  Even this counsel will be basic and not overly difficult - so just realizing we may need to arise a half hour earlier and go to bed a half hour earlier doesn't even take a trained counselor to advise us!

Those decisions which require counsel outside of our own wisdom may be those which involve changes in career, moves we may want to make with our finances, or even relationship issues we just cannot see our way out of because we are too closely involved.  When these issues arise, we seek biblical counsel - because the values incorporated into our counsel matter! We need to keep in mind the principles of counsel.  Rarely should counsel violate what we likely already know to be true in a circumstance.  For example, if it is a relationship issue which causes you to seek counsel, you likely know a little bit about why you are where you are in the relationship.  Talking it out with someone isn't meant to give you clarity because they know all the right answers, but just that they can help you bring out the pieces you already know and put them together into an ordered fashion.  Going to someone for counsel, receiving advice or plans beyond what we can see in scripture may not be biblical counsel - so we also need to follow the principles outlined in scripture.

There is safety in receiving counsel when big decisions may loom and cause us a little concern.  Military leaders of old would do this prior to engaging in any military action - and they still do down through the ages.  Why?  We learn from the wisdom of others who have had similar experiences.  A word of caution - counsel is not based on experience alone - it must align with scripture, find agreement in our spirit, and be consistent with the character of God.  We can receive some pretty good advice - but advice which does not find agreement in our spirit (the place where we commune with God's Spirit), is not worth our following.  Remember, common sense helps us with many decisions.  When they get a little tougher, God expects us to go to him with those - in turn, he may help us out a little by bringing someone into our lives with the biblical counsel to assist us in sorting things out.  Never let counsel steer you away from these safety measures.  If it does, you will find yourself in a worse place.  Just sayin!

Take aim - plan well

To love learning is to embrace discipline - for apart from living a disciplined life, learning can never occur.  To "learn" means we will gain knowledge, understanding of something, or to gain a skill.   It comes by study, instruction, and experience.  Some might call this "coming to realize" - to hear and then come to really know.  Either way you look at it, it comes by discipline.  No lesson is easily embraced if there is a fear or hatred of discipline.  If we recognize our heavenly Father's discipline is ALWAYS done in love, we will no longer fear it, but embrace it as a way of being embraced by love.

If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it—how shortsighted to refuse correction!  A good person basks in the delight of God, and he wants nothing to do with devious schemers.  You can’t find firm footing in a swamp, but life rooted in God stands firm...  The thinking of principled people makes for justice; the plots of degenerates corrupt. The words of the wicked kill; the speech of the upright saves. Wicked people fall to pieces—there’s nothing to them; the homes of good people hold together.  (Proverbs 12:1-3, 5-7 MSG)

A good person basks in the delight of the Lord - in other words, God approves of the good, but he withdraws from the wicked.  The word approve really carries the meaning of "proving", "attesting to", and "accepting as satisfactory".  So, when God approves and takes delight in us, he is really saying we have stood the test and been "proven" to have the right stuff!  In fact, he "attests to" our standing with him - through the evidence of his Son's light shining through us.  Wickedness never brings stability into our lives - so this is why God requires us to learn through discipline.  He wants us to be stable people - deeply rooted.  Stability is the strength to stand or endure.  It comes from being firmly established - fixed and steadfast in our convictions, with actions which align with those convictions.  When there is a steadiness in our purpose, there is a strength displayed even in the face of trial.  What God is doing through his discipline in our lives is making us able to resist the forces of evil around us - those things which pull at our heart and seek to sway us in our convictions.

The just have a way of thinking which differs from the world's way of thinking. It is the "plans" which differ between the just and the wicked.  The just have learned through disciplined application of truth - this embraced knowledge goes into the plans of the just.  The details which are formulated in the minds and hearts of the just are tempered by the embraced grace of God in their lives.  They have faced tough circumstances, made wrong choices, but have been extended grace to learn from those choices.  In turn, they have embraced grace and and it affects the plans they formulate for future actions. A "just" person is really one who has learned "reasonableness" in their lives. There is a commitment to live uprightly - in turn, it affects every action.

As has been the case all through this book of Proverbs, we are set up to see comparisons:  Good vs. Bad, Just vs. Unjust, Learned vs. Fool, etc.  This chapter is no different.  The first section of this chapter deals with the differences between those who will commit to live "principled" lives against those who will live life constantly moving the target.  Principled people have but one target in mind - they remain focused and the target doesn't move.  It doesn't move because it is a "fixed" target - the character of Christ.  The ungodly or "unprincipled" have multiple targets, making it difficult to aim at anything.  Plans are goals - it is to "aim" at something.  Remember my illustration of the target with its concentric circles culminating in a totally filled in circle in the middle.  Just (principled) lives want to live "filled in" lives.  We want to hit "dead center" every time.

The short-sighted don't see the target - their minds and hearts are focused on something entirely "short" of the target.  This makes them "fools" in God's eyes, because only the fool will aim at nothing!  I like the verse in this passage about finding firm footing - it isn't available in the swamp!  The fool has a way of finding themselves "swamped" because of their poor planning. The wise have learned the incredibly liberating joy of planning well - taking lessons from their experience, incorporating them into the pre-planning for their next opportunities, and then waiting until they have "aligned" their target in their "sights" before they actually launch toward the target!  Just sayin!