After sixteen months under pandemic restrictions, Sean Novicki no longer makes long-term plans for his future. The 31-year-old audiovisual technician knows this global crisis will eventually end, but he told the Atlantic, “At some point another catastrophe beyond my ability to predict or control is going to occur and upend all my plans. So, why bother long-term planning when this is how the world works?”
I imagine Sean would agree with James 4:13-14: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
But that’s not all that James has to say about planning. He goes on to add, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:15).
Ancient Christian writers often added the letters “DV” to any plans they wrote down. That’s an abbreviation for the Latin phrase, Deo Volente. It means, “God willing.”
When we come to terms with our ignorance and impotence about the future, we’ll make better plans. There are five things that characterize wise planning:
Caution: The wise know what they don’t know about the future, and that leads them to plan for the unexpected.
Convictions: It’s good to have a dream and work toward it, but it’s more important to operate from core convictions. Do that and you’ll always be able to adjust to unexpected circumstances.
Connections: Let’s learn from others how they’re navigating uncertain times.
Constancy: The three things we feel the most during uncertain times is helplessness, self-preservation, and panic. So, ask God to give you a spirit of “power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Confidence: In humility we admit we don’t know what the future holds, but in confidence we trust the one who holds the future.
Let’s go into more detail about wise planning this Sunday! Join me at 10am on campus or online.
--Tom
Sign up here to receive Tom Goodman’s weekly devotional in your email inbox. Tom serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.