Can Christians make plans? Shouldn’t we leave it to God? Wouldn’t God take care of our lives? There are many who think, we shouldn’t make plans and God will take care. Yes, It’s true that God will take care of us. We are like Pots in the hand of the Potter. He knows and he will make us what we are supposed to be.

But, when we look at the very first chapter of the Bible. We see our Creator’s master plan. Creating Man was itself a plan. God says “Let us make Mankind in our image” (Gen 1:26), doesn’t it sound like a plan. In the very next verse we see God executing the plan “So God created mankind in His own image”

Being created in our Creators image, shouldn’t we imbibe this character (making plans) of God and be good planners?

The Bible says, “Sluggards .do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing” (Proverbs 20:4). Unless we invest time and plan at a right time, we wouldn’t be able to be successful. Planning is an important aspect of Christian Living

As we are in the beginning of a new academic year, we make a lot of plans. Students, Parents, Teachers all look to make plans to be successful. So, what does the Bible say about making plans. Let’s look at the steps of making a plan from a Christian perspective.

Broadly, we can make a Plan by going through the following five steps

  1. Set your Goal, Prayerfully
  2. Assess circumstances
  3. Take Action
  4. Guard from Distractions
  5. Trust God Always

Set your Goal, Prayerfully

No one would dispute the fact that Goals should have Good motives. The Bible in the book of James warns us against goals with wrong motives (James 4:3) & it also warns us against boasting with our goals (James 4:13-16) .

Why not the motives of your goal align with the two “Great” motives of the Bible?

So what are those two great motives

  1. The Great Commandments – “Love God” & “Love your Neighbor as self” (Mark 12:29-31)
  2. The Great Commission – Make Disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20)

How can my personal plan for my life betterment align with these two motives of the Bible?

Let’s say God has Gifted you with musical talent. When you make a Goal to learn a musical instrument in 6 months & use it to God’s Glory; Isn’t it Loving God? Learning the musical instrument to it’s perfection and showing it’s skills; Isn’t it honoring & loving your teacher, parents, friends? When you use what you have learned to help others, make others happy, Glorify God; wouldn’t you be reflecting Christ-likeness. Wouldn’t it help others come closer to Christ?

Secondly our Goals should be “SMART“.

  • S – Specific (WHAT is the goal)
  • M – Measurable (WHY is the goal needed)
  • A – Actionable (HOW can this goal be achieved)
  • R – Relevant (WHY NOW, I should work on this goal)
  • T – Timebound (WHEN should I complete this goal)

One should set goals that are SMART. For example “I will score good marks” will not qualify as SMART goals. Why? Score Marks where? It’s not specific. Good Marks? How can we measure “good”? It’s not time bound also. When will the good marks be scored? So when we set goals we should be specific, know it’s measure/success criteria & when the goal will be achieved. In addition to it we should evaluate if the goal can be implemented, achieved & how relevant it is now. So we may need to modify it as “I will score above 90% in my 12th Board exam in March 2020” . Let’s look at this from a biblical example. We all know about Noah’s goal of “Making the ark”. Can we see if it was a SMART Goal?

  • Specific – This is how you are to build it (Gen 6:15)
  • Measurable – Survival. Noah had to do it for his survival. (Gen 6: 17-19)
  • Actionable – Noah did all that the Lord commanded him (Gen 7:5)
  • Relevant – Noah had to do it immediately.
  • Timebound – It had to be completed before the rain.

Setting the goal, prayerfully aligning with the good motives of the Bible & setting them as SMART goals is the first and important step of Planning.

We will look at the other steps in my next blog. (This blog series is based on my devotion for Teens fellowship in my Church). Please leave your comments / suggestions. It would help me in my writing.