Forget the Plan
Instead Focus on the Goal
My temperament is well suited for planning.
Before we travel, I plan the itinerary, share the spreadsheets, find the right food and transportation, and leave nothing to chance. I pack days in advance, weigh the bags, and write out lists for anyone staying behind to care for the children, animals, or plants.
I keep not just one, but three calendars, and I spend time each Sunday syncing them in preparation for the week ahead. My meals are planned weekly, and the shopping is done in routine fashion as soon as the grocery ads land in my mailbox.
When my children were younger, I had some pretty strong feelings about how I thought our life (and theirs) should unfold. They would all attend a four-year college out of state and graduate with minimal debt. They would meet their spouse in college, find a job in Arizona right after graduation, and then move back to our amazingly sunny state to live near the rest of the family. My plan was amazing. But it was not realistic.
In truth, it was more of a dream than a plan.
As structured as I try to keep my life, lately I feel called more and more to loosen my grip on the big plans and focus instead on setting goals. I am striving to hear His direction more clearly in the day-to-day moments, attuning my heart to His voice in the time I spend not planning, but praying.
Prayer is how we come to know God, and without knowing Him, it is impossible to know and follow His plan.
I cannot possibly ever know His plan perfectly, but I can choose to trust in His plan and in His love.
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
I don’t think we should abandon all purposeful direction in our lives, waiting for God to make every decision. We could starve at the banquet table of life waiting for the Lord to tell us what to eat first. Rather, we should set goals with the Lord in prayer and then faithfully work toward them.
Goals are best when they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. They help us move toward a desired future. For instance, if you have a desire to one day own your own home, that may be a beautiful desire placed on your heart. Goals then guide your next steps toward that outcome:
Get a job that pays more than your expenses.
Start building credit.
Set up a savings account for a home purchase.
Put a specific amount of extra money aside each month for the down payment.
If there is no extra money, find ways to reduce monthly expenses or increase income. This may require additional goals: create a budget, reduce spending, get a roommate, or find a second job.
This process is very different from simply creating a vision in your mind that you will one day own your own home. Without goals, a plan is simply a dream.
Discernment is the process of sifting through the direction we sense from the Lord regarding our plans, goals, dreams, wants, and desires. It can be difficult to hear God’s voice in the midst of a noisy world. But by entering more deeply into silence and prayer, by clearing away some temporal distractions and unhealthy attachments, we begin to align our will with God’s. From that place of alignment, we can make decisions and set goals with clarity and peace.
Lent is such a beautiful time to deepen our prayer life and reorient our hearts toward God and His holy will. It is an invitation to loosen our grip on the plans we have written for ourselves and to trust that His plans are better. May we use this season to listen more closely, trust more fully, and walk forward with purpose, setting our goals in prayer and placing the outcome gently in His hands.