I watched a TED Talk online a while back from David Allen. He is the man behind the “Getting Things Done” movement, also called GTD. In the talk he says it all started on a boat he and his girlfriend were on near Santa Cruz. A storm was coming and they found themselves at the mercy of the winds with no power and three hours until rescue. He mentions that a moment of clarity hit the two of them as they did everything they could to prepare for the storm. All of their time was focused on working together and getting the boat in the best possible condition before the Coast Guard appeared. Allen went on to write a best selling book in 2001 called “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity.”
What David Allen is really talking about is planning. He talks about the importance of making a plan for businesses and for life. Indeed, planning can be done for just about everything. What is it that you have had to plan for in your life? If you really think about it I bet you can come up with a long list. Here are a few things I managed to think of:
- Special Events
- Education
- Jobs an job applications
- Holidays
- Travel
- Vacations
If you think of this enough you also will realize that other people also plan for you. This is especially true when you are a child but is also true in any stage of life. Parents plan quite a few things for their children. Teachers do too. In college you have an advisor that helps you make a plan for your educational career. And you may have teammates at some point (whether in sports or something else) that participate in the planning of some part of you life.
We plan for ourselves, and others plan for us too. What about God? Does God plan for us?
I recently watched a commercial for a local church. In it the pastor is looking straight into the camera, and at some point he says “God has a plan for you.” If you have grown up in the church you have most likely heard this phrase. What do you think about that? Is it true? Does God really have a plan for you?
When some people are asked about this phrase they point to scripture to back it up. The most popular scripture used is found in Jeremiah. Specifically they point to chapter 29, verse 11:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
That sounds spot on until you realize that this verse is usually taken out of context. Let’s add that back in.
Jeremiah 29:1-3
29 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
So this comes from a letter addressed to exiled Israelites in a specific circumstance. I have a hard time automatically extending that to any person’s life in every circumstance. There are other verses that are often given. Here are some of them:
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepard of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, though Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5
I find these to be way too vague to adequately answer the question of a plan for me.
So is it even biblical to say that God has a plan for us? Maybe this means on what type of plan we are talking about. I can certainly see how God can have a plan for a better life for us. But when it comes to planning out my day, specifically? Then I am not so sure. Let’s go back to the college advisor example. When an advisor in college meets with a student they come up with a plan but the student has to choose the small things. The advisor often talks about the large picture. This is big picture planning.
Here is what I think. A plan may very well be in place, but I doubt it has much to do with an end state of any kind. Rather I think God’s plan may center around what it is going to take to make you a better person. What is it that God wants you to do, right now, to become better spiritually? How can you become kinder, or more compassionate, or caring? What is it that you have to do to improve in those ways? These are the things you have complete control over. You decide how you are going to act in any given circumstance. You decide what kind of person you are going to be. So-called life plans can also be made, but they are often at the whim of outside events. Bad things can happen. Things can occur that derail such goals. But God’s plan for you to be a better person? That doesn’t get derailed unless you do it to yourself.
That kind of plan is the plan I can get behind.
God Bless