Now that we have positioned ourselves to hear God’s instruction, and discovered the purposes of God in His call to more, we can begin to explore His process for planning. I feel the need to share – here at the beginning – that God’s way for planning is not like anything you may have experienced in the world.
There are many ways that the kingdom of God is contrary to the world (e.g., love your enemies, the greater serve the lesser). Planning is one of those things. In fact, planning as we know it – work breakdown structures, contingencies, etc. – have no place in the kingdom of God.
This is a hard thing for a process-oriented problem solver to share. I love planning. Task lists are my thing. It is hard letting go of what you are good at.
That is why, when God called me to the more of Workplace Ministry, the first thing I had to die to was my propensity to create and own the process. At first, I thought God’s issue with me was my desire to own and control. While that was something He would deal with, the bigger consideration was the method of planning itself.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5
It is really very simple – a basic reality of the kingdom of God. If you have to have the whole plan laid out for you, then you have not trusted in the LORD. He requires faith before everything else; and He uses the lack of a plan to develop our faith.
When God called me to Workplace Ministry, I didn’t know Workplace Ministry existed. I didn’t even know that was what He was calling me to. All I knew was that He intended to give me the desire of my heart: To help Christian Leaders find joyful, Spirit-filled ministry.
Honestly, I don’t know how long it took for me accept that God was not going to give me the plan. I just hope it comes easier for you. So, let me help you with that.
Generally speaking, your greatest challenge will be fear; fear of the unknown. Behind every fear is a lie. Deal with the lie, and the fear will fly.
In this case, the lie that your flesh, the world, and Satan would have you believe is that God cannot be trusted. Notice that this is the same deception pulled on us in the Garden.
This is the first lesson in God’s process for planning. We must face our fears with the truth. Therefore, the truth – particularly of God’s faithfulness – must be settled in our hearts and minds, at the beginning.
In closing, let me encourage you: God does give us clear instruction on how we are to respond to His planning process. We will cover these in future articles.
For now, God bless you with courage and faith for the incredible adventure He has planned for you.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:6
Humbly yours and forever His,
Rob