Write It Down!

I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
Then the LORD answered me and said:

“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
“Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:1-5 NKJV

The Lord is yet revealing Himself to others--just like He did with the prophets of old. If we learn to receive, hear and listen, we might be surprised at what we are told.

People are still creating bucket lists--those desires they wish to achieve before they die or at least by a specific time in their lives. A goal is always a good thing, especially when the goal is for the good of others more than just self. And while having a goal is good, few goals are ever achieved without a plan to get there.

The plan--the step-by-step approach or strategy to get to the finish line, must be doable and must lead in the direction in which a person wants to go. Not having a plan, often leads to people doing random acts--that lead nowhere and then they wonder why they have not moved closer to their goal.

Perhaps the easiest way to reach goals is to have several short-term goals that lead to the larger goal--to complete the big picture.

For instance--if a student desires to improve grades and obtain a specific grade-point-average, they might want to start with a targeted study plan. For some that goal may include specific hours dedicated to study and preparing for daily class work and testing. This goal would include working on smaller portions of information for a longer time period (one segment 15 minutes a night), rather than trying to cram a great deal of information into an overnight, stress-filled approach.

If a person has a desire to be used in ministry, by God--the first step would be to develop a right relationship with Him and then to get into His Word and study--researching all that is unknown or not clearly understood. Reaching this particular goal takes time and there are no short cuts although some have attempted to circumvent the obvious. We must study to show ourselves approved unto God--willing to work to understand His Word so we might rightly--present it to others. Some have claimed a calling upon their lives by God and presented themselves to a local church leader and that leader has set them up to fail by simply allowing them to present a "trial sermon"and then giving them leeway (without sufficient evidence of study or relationship) to run and misrepresent the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

If there is anything we want to achieve and God has given us the vision, we need to write it down, along with the plan to get there--step-by-step. When the vision is truly from God, it will be attained and nothing any man or woman attempts to do to hinder it, will matter. God's plans will always prevail over anything we may plan to do--that is not of or from Him.

So if God has given you a vision--write it down and seek His wisdom to map out the plans to achieve and no matter--stick with the plan--inching your way, if necessary, to cross that finish line--according to His timetable. Remember--"the race is given to the strong or the swift, but the one who endures to the end."

The Plan!

"And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him." (Ephesians 1:10-14 NLT)

Everyone makes plans if they are going to succeed. Someone once said, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" That makes sense to me. No one has really experienced success at doing anything without a plan.

Athletic coaches have a plan to win--sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but when it doesn't, they revise/modify the plans until they do work.

Inventors have a plan--a plan that sometimes has to be modified to be successful.

Good parents, sometimes, have plans for their children, but they don't always work because children grow up and exercise their ability to decide for themselves.

Without a plan, people have difficulty not running around in circles--constantly moving and getting nowhere or being stuck in a rut.

And this is what happens to us. God has a plan for our lives--plans for us to have abundant lives, joy, and happiness and to prosper as our souls prosper, but we think we know better than Him and make our own decisions without consulting Him and the Plan has to be modified until He can get us to see His plan is better. So, He waits for us and sometimes we see His plan coming together in our lives (when we obey) and sometimes we don't (when we refuse to accept His plan).

What is His plan? Salvation--atonement for all mankind for the sins we are capable of committing--Jesus made the sacrifice for all so we wouldn't have to do it. What a marvelous plan He has for our lives--Jews and Gentiles and anyone else who is willing to accept His plan through His Son.

I've lived enough of my life without His plan operating in my life to know that I prefer His Plan! His plan has been thoroughly detailed and He has forgotten absolutely nothing. The modification needed--is a change in my desire to see His plan work as He planned it, not me. Glory to God! Better seeing it late than not at all.

While I understand the tendency of people to blame God for all the bad stuff that happens in their lives, I always raise the question--what could I have done differently or how did I miss what You said? I'm not blaming Him for my missteps in life. Those were my decisions and I have to accept responsibility for them. Had I known earlier in my life that His plan was so much better; I would have listened--sooner.

For those who refuse to believe He is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do--for all who believe--I'm praying that you, too will learn to listen and accept what He has in store for you because His plan--is better than any plan you could ever have.