Becoming: How to Involve God in Your 2023 Plans
We do everything at the beginning of every year except plan with God; a very crucial aspect of our becoming who He intends us to be.
Ever wondered why your new year’s resolutions always wear out almost before the end of the first month? As a Believer, the questions you should ask are “what does God have for me this year?” “How can I include God in my plans this year?”.
Better still, you may already have your plans written so you can ask yourself “does my plan align with the will of God?” “Am I setting the right goals or planning for the right things?”
Let’s look at what planning is, how it affects your becoming, and what the bible says about planning. We will then go ahead to talk about the importance of involving God in these plans.
Relationship Between Planning and Becoming
Planning is the thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. It is formulating steps of intended actions through which goals are expected to be achieved.
The importance of planning in the journey of your becoming who God made you to be cannot be overemphasized or overhyped. Here are three top reasons why planning is related to your becoming;
1. Direction
In the process of developing the actions you need to take to be the best version of yourself, planning helps you to do the important things. It also helps eliminates distractions, unnecessary activities, habits, or behaviors that might disrupt your chances of achieving your goals. It enhances focus and gives perspective to your goals.
2. Assessment of Goals
Planning helps you to critically assess your goals and check if they align by following the SMART (Specific. Measurable. Attainable/Achievable. Realistic. Time-bound) guide to goal setting.
3. Blueprint
Your plans serve as the blueprint for your journey to becoming so that whenever you are going off course you can go back to look at the plans you set and redirect yourself.
What the Bible Says About Planning
Are you the type that rolls your eye when people talk about making plans? Well, as believers our manual for living (the Bible) has something to say about planning.
In Luke 14:28-31, Jesus asked a question indicating the importance of planning, counting the costs, and weighing the consequences before taking any action.
Other scriptures that talk about planning include; Psalms 33:10-11, Psalms 40:5, Proverbs 14:8, Proverbs 16:3 & 9, Proverbs 21:5, etc.
Importance of Planning with God
Intimacy
Planning with God, in the long run, would result in a deeper level of intimacy with Him because the more you walk and work with God, the more He reveals Himself to you.
Assurance of a Good End
Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that the plans God has in mind for us are of good, of peace, and of well-being to give us hope and a future. No one does business with God and records any loss. It is always a win with God so we can rest assured of the end no matter how good or bad the journey is.
Protection from Mistakes and Disasters
Because we are walking with a God that knows the end from the beginning, He can protect us from future mistakes or disasters that we cannot see. He can save us from dashing our feet against the stone. Proverbs 14:15
How To Plan with God
Involving God in your plan only takes one thing and that is surrendering by;
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Prayer
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Obedience to His Word
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Yielding to the directions and instructions of the HolyGhost
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Trusting Him enough to allow Him to take charge and control.
Trusting Him in prayer to lead you in all your ways (Proverbs 3:6) and show you where to go, when, and how to go (Psalms 143:8b).
Ultimately…
The true question is not whether or not we should plan, but rather whether or not we would prioritize doing God’s will over our own and always submit to His knowledge and authority.
“So as we make plans, I want to say ‘carry God along’ but all in honesty, it should be the other way around. Let God be the one to ‘carry you along with His plans’.”; This conclusion was made by one of our core members in The Rebuilders Network during our discussion on goal setting.