Of making plans.

"Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed." - Proverbs 16:3, NLT

Three years ago, fresh after getting out of a four-year relationship, I made plans to finally go travelling solo again. Problem was, the job I had then only allowed for eight days of annual leave. However, the company did have a policy allowing its staff to take up to a year of unpaid leave. So, I started saving up and made plans to take the following year off to travel. 

Nonetheless, a different opportunity presented itself before my initial plan came to fruition. Great thing about it was that what eventually happened ended up much better than my initial plans. I ended up working the whole year last year and travelling every other month. I had saved up enough to travel for the whole year, but turned out, I didn't have to dig into my savings, as my new company offered more annual leaves (and a salary bump from the previous job!).

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Among us Christians, there has been so many false misconceptions about making plans. While it's true that the final decision lies ultimately in God's hands, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't be doing everything we can to be proactive. A lot of people (myself included) has made the erroneous assumption that having faith in God means just lying on the couch and waiting for God to do everything for us. In fact, Scripture says it plainly that faith without works is dead (James 2:26).

Having faith means stepping out there and taking actions while committing them to Him. While a part of me didn't think that there was anything especially noble or godly about the desire to travel, I figured that even if He'd end up not blessing my plan to travel, He would still be able to bless my discipline in setting aside savings as I prepare for what I've prayed for. As Devon Franklin writes in his book, The Hollywood Commandments, you've got to pray and prepare for the things you've prayed for. 

The only way to know is to do.

In my earlier journey as a young Christian, I used to hear church friends talk about 'discerning' a lot. I had no inkling of what this meant and would often assume that it's just praying over the same thing over and over again until some authoritative voice come booming from the sky, assuring you of which path to take.

As I got older and hopefully more mature in faith, I realize that a big part of discerning is actually doing. I was mulling over one decision last year while I was watching a sermon by Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church when he said, "quit overthinking about whether or not to take this job, whether I should move or stay. Just GO! You can always get another job and come back to your hometown!"

These days, as much as I'd prefer to pull a Gideon and ask for as much confirmation as possible before committing to do something, I rest in the assurance that as long as what I'm about to do is done with the correct intentions and paved with love, I can't go far wrong.