Five Levels of Planning to Consider
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.—Psalm 103:1-5
My own journey into Gospel-driven productivity actually came out of the lowest point in my life. After adopting our daughter in 2012, I sank into a dark pit of despair, loneliness, and depression. My marriage, family, and ministry all were impacted negatively.
I knew I needed to get out of this pit but had no motivation or energy to do so. Meanwhile, my key relationships were deteriorating at an alarming rate. Something needed to change.
It was at this time that I entered into my first season of biblical counseling. Here, I was first reconnected to God, who helped me reframe my life in His perspective. He gave me hope that my experience was hard but it need not drag me under.
From there, He helped me to slowly take steps out of that pit. We started with the key areas and then slowly but surely, every year we moved forward.
Though this is a work in progress, still going today, I thought I’d share some of the things I have learned in my journey towards Gospel-driven productivity.
Let’s Start with the Five Levels of Planning
When I think of planning, I look at it as an airplane descending from the clouds down to the ground level.
First, there’s the Story. This is the narrative through which we see our lives, something I have written about already.
Second, there’s the vision. This is the high-level purpose in our planning, establishing the general trajectory and direction of your life as it relates to God’s story. For believers, this can generally be described as loving God, loving others, and making disciples until Christ returns to establish His earthly Kingdom.
Third, there’s your mission. This is the personal trajectory—how your unique individual life contributes to the vision. God has created each of us with good works to do, and as we do them, we serve His purposes in this time and place.
Fourth, there’s your roles. This is the context in which you carry out your mission in daily life. We do not live in a vacuum but live out our mission with our roommate, co-worker, spouse, parent, friend, sibling, or neighbor.
Last, there’s your routines. These are the boots on the ground habits, tactics, and skills you utilize in your various roles to carry out your mission towards God’s vision.
In a world where there are infinite choices, defining each of these is important because it gives you both direction as well as limits. It filters out those possibilities so that you can focus.
If we are committed to living out God’s Story, then we do not need to write our own. If we want to devote our lives to utilizing our personal and unique gifts, doing good works for the specific people and ministries in which we are planted, it will help us to not say “yes” to every opportunity that comes our way. We can wisely choose in terms of purpose instead of simply basing our decisions on a pro/con list.
Let me delve into this a little further.
My Plan Is Not Your Plan
You may have noted that I have made a differentiation between vision and mission. Specifically, while we as believers may have a common vision, our missions may be very different. And we most certainly have different roles we play and routines that work best for us.
So while we may be heading towards the same end, it is important that I make it clear that my plan is not your plan. Please do not compare your life with mine nor use my life as a standard for how you should live.
Ultimately, we must be accountable to God alone. This is why it is vital that we anchor our identity in Christ by abiding in Him. Only He who has written the days in your book can guide you best.
For that reason, as I have said many times before, we must establish a solid sense of who God is (and therefore who we are) and what He has planned for us. This is how I look at the idea of mission—something that I developed as I was reading Matt Perman’s book, What’s Best Next.
A vision is a corporate goal, one that you cannot meet alone—and probably not during your lifetime. On the other hand, a mission is more personal, one that is your particular contribution, to the overall vision. This mission shapes your life’s direction as you make decisions, develop your skills, and gain experience.
This is what makes being a member of the body of Christ unique. We share a common vision: glorifying God by letting His light shine through us (Matt. 5:16) and making disciples, spreading that light through this dark world. In this way, we love God and love others as we serves as ambassador, priest, and disciple maker.
But how we do it will be as unique as our own fingerprint. And God helps us to fulfill this unique role when He created us in our mother’s wombs. Through our experiences in life, He is shaping us—even in the hard times—to contribute to His kingdom.
Again, this is why it is critical to get our cues from the Lord as we abide in Him. Only through Him do we rightly understand who we are, how our experiences are to be interpreted, and how we can then use these as our unique contribution.
Your Unique Context
Not only do I have a unique mission, but I am surrounded by a unique set of people in a particular time and place. He has chosen me to live in this era of history, in the place I am now, with people of His choosing. He has placed me in my nuclear family, joined me with my husband, and blessed us with children.
This may not be your setting, but you are still a part of God’s Story, with a vision to love God and others well. You have a God-given mission, fulfilling God’s overarching vision. And the various roles you play are the stage on which you live out that mission.
For me, this has changed how I look at life. Instead of seeing my life mission “out there,” something I do when I retire or my kids grow up, it is happening now, right in the context of my home as a homemaker and homeschooling mom.
Looking at my roles in light of mission and vision has changed my focus in what I do. It has given the mundane great purpose. It has also helped me to make decisions that may be hard in this temporary moment but have more important implications for eternity. It helps me deal with FOMO as well as provides motivation to keep moving forward for the things that matter.
This is where the Gospel comes into our planning and goal-setting. I begin in the challenging settings of home and family, and then move outward to the world beyond my home.
Tailor Designed to Fit
So, even though believers may share God’s Story and His vision in common, our mission and our contexts are all different. For this reason, we want to be able to create rhythms, habits, goals, and tasks that best help us to live out God’s purposes right where we are today. This is where it gets interesting and exciting!
Some of us have a more laid-back personality and preferences. Some of us like to work a different way.
But as long as we are both aimed in the same direction, going towards God’s vision, living out His Story, there are options on how to do this. As this series progresses, I will be sharing some of these concepts and techniques, but know that how they play out may look different to you.
For now, take a moment to define your particular contribution in this season of God’s Story.
Take Inventory of You
What are some of the unique features about your life?
Make an inventory of your education, experiences and the unique insights you gained from them.
Identify any special talents, skills, aptitudes, gifts and add them to your list.
Lastly, consider personality traits and relational skills: are you quiet, introverted, gentle? Are you the life of the party? Good at noticing the lonely and helping connect them with others? Love to take younger women under your wing? Sought out for your wisdom? Organized and disciplined, or spontaneous but purposeful? Are you a great team player?
All of these are helpful to keep in mind as we tailor-design our schedules.
Take Inventory of Your Roles
Next, look at the different roles you play in your life:
First and foremost, our core identity is with God, a saint set apart for Him, adopted into His family as His child. This is our core and foundational relationship.
After that, move outwards to your family. Have you started a new one through marriage? Have you added children to your family? Then spouse and parent are key roles you play. If you are not married, then you still have a role to play. If you live with others—parents, siblings, roommates—then that is another role.
Then think about your church family: Do you play specific roles there? At the very least, you play a role in the life of the church, whether you are a member or not. Do you have additional roles: ministry leader (working with youth, children?), counselor, pastor or elder’s wife, administrator, coordinator, etc.?
From family, move out to your wider community. List the roles you play in the life of your workplace, your neighborhood, or any hobby groups in which you participate.
As I mentioned earlier, taking the time to do this helps tremendously as it helps to focus your mission and purpose within God’s larger Story. Instead of trying to be like everyone else, the limits actually give freedom.
Close your time in prayer, committing yourself to God and His purposes in your life.
