Today’s topic is on the value of planning ahead instead of making decisions in the moment. Today’s verse is from Proverbs 21:5 which says:
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
There is a big difference between planning 100% of your life down to the last detail vs. leaving 100% of things to chance and making all decisions in the moment. For example, if you personally design every step of your path then you won’t leave room for God to walk with you on your path and help guide your way. But on the other hand, if you don’t think ahead at all, you may find yourself facing dangers that you otherwise could have avoided. Today’s lesson focuses on the latter.
Think about what causes us the most trouble in life. In a 2017 article from Psychology Today titled “Most Problems are People Problems”, it lays out the idea that our problems primarily come from the actions of others and from our responses to those actions. While this is not a Christian publication, we can tie-in these concepts to help us become better Christian men.
For example, we know that when other people act in their best interest and we then respond by acting in our best interest, conflict frequently arises. As tensions rise, we move farther and farther away from focusing on our primary calling of loving God and loving people. So does that mean that we should roll over and let others win in every confrontation? Absolutely not. But there is a third way.
The third way involves planning ahead with the specific intent of avoiding distractions and finding ways every day to love God and love people. For example, if we know that our wife always responds emotionally when we bring up a certain topic, don’t bring it up or at least find a way to repackage the message. Or if our assistant hates being interrupted, plan ahead and keep a stack of things to discuss when they are ready. Or if you know you always overeat when you go to Mexican, don’t go to Mexican.
On the positive side, if you put your exercise gear out the night before, it may make it easier to roll out of bed and workout. Or if you don’t buy ice cream at the grocery store, you won’t eat as much ice cream at night.
So the bottom line is that it is important to think about situations in which you struggle the most and how you may be able to plan ahead so you don’t get off track.
Questions:
- Do you agree that planning ahead can help make us better Christians? Why or why not?
- What about those who say it is all in God’s hands and when we plan ahead we are trying to put ourselves in his place?
- What are some examples of pitfalls we may encounter by not planning ahead?
- Give an example of something in your life that might go more smoothly with some forethought or planning.
- Is there anything this lesson has inspired you to do to plan ahead?
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