“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”
I like how Eugene Peterson paraphrased this verse, “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind.” One of the great struggles of my early life in ministry was when I was asked to put together a 5 year plan. Not my gifting at that point. My strategy was to pursue our mission with every resource and methodology at our disposal as often and persistently as possible. The plan would unfold as we went. Solomon applauded the diligence but is very clear that there is nothing unchristian in planning. For a long time there was a tendency, often unspoken, in ministry to believe that planning left no room for the Holy Spirit to move and work. There is a certain amount of truth to the fact that at times the church has programmed, structured and planned to the point where it believed it no longer needed the input, and certainly did not desire an interruption, by the Holy Spirit. I suspect where His “interference” was unwanted His presence departed. However God clearly rewards good planning, especially when He has been in the center of the process. It will always be a delicate, Spirit led balancing act to keep planning and God’s leading in healthy connection. Today plan intelligently and allow the Spirit to work. #BeTheEdge
“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.”Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
