To Plan or Not to Plan: Is That a Question?

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”—Prov. 19:21

Yep, I’m posting this late. Things came up this week that I didn’t expect. After returning from our trip, we found ourselves plunged back into the reality of things.

First, it was getting a call from her school saying that Anah had thrown up all over herself. This is something she has done before, so I will confess I was a bit exasperated when I was asked to bring in an extra set of clothes for her.

That same afternoon, I got a call from the bus service saying that she did it again on the way home. Her after school program received her, but then asked her to bring her home. She had eaten something that disagreed with her, so I spent a couple days monitoring her diet until it got out of her system.

I thought that would be the worst of the week, but the next day, on Sunday morning at 3:30 a.m., we found ourselves with a water leak. It sounded like someone had left the water running. So my husband and I spent the wee hours of the morning mopping up the mess (which, fortunately, was caught early).

Then another child got sick. High fever kept us from getting started back into our homeschool week so now we’re behind schedule. And so yes, I am also behind schedule in getting this out.

I wanted to share this as we continue on this series in planning because I often read books and posts on productivity and wonder: does planning make any difference if you cannot control the unexpected? Or do the people who write these things live in some ivory tower, with lives so organized and controlled that I cannot relate to it?

So as I attempt to do likewise, I just wanted to make it clear: I can plan for things and they don’t work according to plan. Or sometimes things I don’t plan for end up taking over what I do plan. Both are entirely normal.

But I believe in planning anyway.

Planning is Stewardship

If you think about it, God is a planner. In Genesis 1:26, we hear the Trinity say “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” After the fall, He already knew what was going to happen when he said that though there will enmity between the woman and the serpent, “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15). This was not a mistake, for Acts 2:23 tells us that even Jesus’ death was “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”

But God doesn’t just make plans for himself. He laid out his plans to both Moses and Joshua (Ex. 3 and Josh. 6). He had detailed instructions for how the nation of Israel was to worship Him (Leviticus). He has written out every day of our lives as well (Ps. 139: 16).

Each of these days are part of his ultimate plan: to adopt us into his family, that we should be holy and blameless before Him (Eph. 1). The likeness of Christ is his goal, something He will make sure He will complete (Phil. 1:6). He uses the ups and downs in life to continually refine us, one degree of glory at a time, until we reflect Him (2 Cor. 3:18).

It is true that God is the one who is in control and in charge. He has determined the ending. He has placed us in our various roles in His Story.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan. Though He may have determined the trajectory, it doesn’t mean that He will also hand out all the details down to the minute. He assumes we will plan too, counting the cost, and affirms the wisdom in it (Luke 14:28-30).

This is what stewardship is. It is an awareness that even if we are not the one in charge, we are still responsible. I am not in charge of my own destiny, but I will need to answer to God on how I have managed what He has given me (Matt. 25:14-30) and used them to move His kingdom forward.

When we take the time to plan, we are living proactively. Being saved by grace helps us to live in hope, doing good works instead of flying by the seat of our pants, hoping that we’ll get to it sometime. It also helps us to make it our aim to glorify Him by engaging in the opportunities at the moment, even if it isn’t according to my plan.

God and Our Plans

However, we need to remember that we are to make plans, God has several important guidelines in making those plans.

First, they need to reflect His purposes, if we wish for them to have eternal impact (Prov. 19:21). His purposes give us intentions to hit and a limit to guide. We aim for higher aims and use these purposes to help us weed out that which does not fit.

Second, our plans are best if it takes the counsel of other godly advisers into consideration (Prov. 15:22). Even if we do not have them, we can at least make plans that will help advance the good of those in our circles of influence.

Third, we want out plans to not only reflect His purposes, but His means (Prov. 16:9). How we do something, the steps we take towards the goal, matters just as much as the end destination.

And lastly, we want to commit our work to Him, that He may establish our plans (Prov. 16:3). Yes, we do need to work hard towards those goals, but we do so trusting that He will use our efforts to grant our heart’s desire and fulfill our plans (Ps. 20:4), which—if we cycle back to the beginning—are eternal ones for His glory.

Gospel-Driven Productivity

What I just described agrees with Matt Perman’s idea, developed in his book, What’s Best Next—Gospel-Driven Productivity (GDP).* In his book, he argues that as believers, we want to make the most of the great productivity hacks that are out there, but not just so that we have more free time. Rather, we want to be efficient in our use of time so that we can not only meet our responsibilities but free up space to do good works in love and service for others.

The Gospel has not just changed our eternal destiny, it should change what we live for today. When we plan wisely with time blocks, focus our energies on one task at a time instead of multitasking, or add a buffer of rest in our days, we sharpen our ability work with excellence, which brings glory to the Lord and allows us to give generously to others the best of myself.

Most productivity books are self-centered at least and others-centered at best. Both of these fall short of God’s intention and will fail to bring true satisfaction. It is only when we set our vision and purposes on God’s will: making disciples, spreading His glory and name to all we touch, and making that our intention and purpose, that we will find our greatest joy.

In this way, we express our gratitude and love to Him as we take the raw materials of minutes and seconds to do good works. We combine our years of experience and training and tap into our unique gifts, abilities, and talents as an expression of faith and love (1 Cor. 16:14; Gal. 5:6).

No Planning is a Type of Planning

If you’re still not convinced you need to plan, just know that not planning is a type of planning. Sure, some personalities may do our best work under pressure. I’ve had some great things happen because the constraint of time imposed a limit on me that helped me be more creative.

Others may find that the idea of a schedule is too restricting and we spend our time trying to buck the system instead of letting it guide us. But when we don’t let God’s intentions and direction rule us, we leave the door open for other masters. Though we are in Christ, our whims, emotions or desires can be latent yet powerful influencers of our lives. When we follow them, we are no longer driven by the Gospel but by self.

Personally, I don’t like being driven by a schedule. In the posts to come, I’ll be sharing how I create a flexible but steady rhythm of routines and systems that allow me to economize on the time spent on responsibilities so that I can intentionally make space for the serendipitous discoveries I love, without feeling guilty or stressed out about wasting time on them when I should be doing something else.

All of us have multiple demands that sometimes compete against each other—different roles, intentions and goals that are all good but can sometimes vie for top spot. Add unexpected interruptions on top of that and life can derail quickly. For many years, I have found myself churning my wheels in the mud, getting no traction, until I took some time to let God lift me out of the hole I was in and plan a way out.

For now, ask yourself these questions:

• If every minute is equivalent to a dollar, how are you spending your time?

• How do you prefer to spend your time—do you like being structured or more freeform? Why? What are the benefits and the downsides of your preference?

• If you were able to use your time more efficiently, what might that allow you to do to love God and others more?

*For more on Gospel-Driven Productivity, check out these articles from The Gospel Coalition:

• “The Key to Gospel-Driven Productivity” by Matt Perman

• “Gospel-Driven Productivity” by Bethany Jenkins