Planning is Biblical and Essential - Delfin Cruz
This summer, a dear friend of MN Revival, Delfin Cruz, shared a powerful message about planning in the Christian faith. Here is his insightful message:
Planning is one of the most misunderstood principles in the Christian faith!
Raise your hand if you are a planner.
Raise your hand if you hate plans.
Answer 1, 2, or 3: Which statement is in the Bible?
1. Luke 14:28-33 (ESV) - "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?"
2. Proverbs 19:21 (ESV) - "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."
3. Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
They are all in the Bible. These seemingly contradictory verses can be explained. The church currently does not have a healthy view of planning. Here are five ways that young adults can understand planning in a more nuanced and useful way.
1. God is in Favor of Plans:
Luke 14:28-33 (ESV) - "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace."
Proverbs 6:6-8 (ESV) - "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest."
1 Corinthians 14:40 (ESV) - "But all things should be done decently and in order."
Proverbs 13:22 - "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children."
There are many self-evident truths that God just expects you to know. God doesn’t have to tell you that you need water or food. He just expects us to work to get these things. He will help us and provide for us, but He expects us to work. If you get 1% better every day for a year, you will get 37 times better by the end of the year. If you invest $100 per month for 40 years at a 12% return, this gives you an account value of $1,176,000.
2. Plans Without Counsel Fail:
Proverbs 15:22 (ESV) - "Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed."
Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) - "Where there is no guidance, a person falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety."
The second step to planning is to pray to God and run your plans by wise, godly counsel. Hearing from the Lord and your elders will help you to identify if your plan aligns with the Bible and God’s plan.
3. God is in Control of Your Plans:
Proverbs 16:3 (ESV) - "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established."
Proverbs 16:9 (ESV) - "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."
Proverbs 19:21 (ESV) - "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."
The third step is to understand that if we disobey God’s laws, promptings, or wise counsel, we will not be able to have an eternal impact. In order to get our own plans to succeed, the sacrifice would be too great. Many times, God asks you to sacrifice your plans to show that they are not your idol. He then shows you a better way to achieve your desires.
We need God because we have an enemy who wants to lead us astray. Without God, our plans will fail. It has been said that, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy" (Helmuth von Moltke). The modern way to say this is, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" (Mike Tyson).
Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Proverbs 19:2 (ESV) - "Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way."
A common problem with plans is that they are rushed or not sequenced correctly. The secular world has learned this. In a sport where messing up is painful, Conor McGregor famously said after having the quickest knockout in UFC history, "Precision beats power, timing beats speed."
Proverbs 21:5 - "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty."
4. God Does Not Want You to Worship Your Plans:
James 4:13-17 (ESV) - "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."
The idolization of plans is where people fall into sin. There are two ways to sin in planning. The first is to not plan at all and not try to hear what God has for your life, leading to laziness. The second is to rely on your plans over God’s plan. God’s promptings will make it clear if you are acting against His will.
5. God Does Not Want You to Worry About Your Future:
Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV) - "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
The fifth and final point is that anxiety is pointless. When Christians think about the future, they should be in prayer or in a prayerful planning session. Alex Hormozi says, "Most of the time worry is from lack of practice." If you have practiced and planned until you are excellent and are still nervous, pray this verse.
Overall, we all have many major decisions to make. Use this framework and go live God’s plan.
Thank you.
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This message was shared by Delfin Cruz, a cherished friend of MN Revival. We hope his words inspire and guide you in your faith journey.
The MN Revival Team :)
