Psalm 31:15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.
We have no control over time. We can only manage time by planning for a better tomorrow. Days, months and years roll by; it does not wait for anyone. The sun does not need our permission or our reception to rise or set. The only way we can manage time productively, profitably and prolifically is by planning for the future wisely. Planning is not hoarding things, accumulating wealth or living stingy selfish lives. Self centred, egoistic and insensitive people are only planning to fail. Jesus talks about a wealthy, rich fool in a parable who had an abundant harvest and wanted to build bigger barns, store his surplus and live luxuriously for years to come. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ Luke 12:18-20. The Bible teaches us to be thrifty but not stingy. The heart of this wealthy fool, was on his resource, “his money, grains, wealth, surplus and savings” and not on the “source” who is the Giver of all blessing, and he planned to fail.
When our eyes are on the resource, our job, career, bank balance, wealth or relationships and plan to increase, enhance and improvise the resource, we will fail terribly. Wise planning for a better tomorrow is to turn our focus on the Almighty God who is the source of all blessings.
Three tips for good planning :
1. Rigid: Clinging onto a “resource” such as a job or an employment will make us rigid and insensitive to God’s plan. Nothing is permanent in this world. We might be holding a permanent job but that is only temporary. Joseph had to lose his position as the favourite and preferred son of his father Jacob to become the Chief Financial Officer and Prime Minister in Egypt. Change comes before promotion. The stubborn will miss God’s plan and path if they remain inflexible, stiff and rigid.
2. Resist: God, our source has the right to give and take away. Everything we have is His. The car we drive, the gasoline that fuels it, the iron, the plastic, the mirrors, the tiers belong to Him. Just because we have paid for the car and the vehicle is registered in our name, we don’t have ownership. He owns everything. When God takes away a worldly position or possession, let go. The source has the right to recall the resource. God will always replace the one we have lost with a better, bigger and brighter blessing. Don’t resist change. It is God’s pathway to elevation.
3. Repel: Welcome change, don’t repel. Prepare and plan for changes in lifestyle, systems and practices. Those who refused to change, learn and move into the computer age were thrown out of jobs 20 years ago. We will get stuck, rigid, angry, bitter and will refuse to progress if we repel change. Don’t repel innovation, it is God’s trail of acceleration.
Everything we have is temporary. Change is the only constant in life. So, plan and prepare to change, improve and keep growing. Don’t be stuck to the past but be enthused about the future. God is the provider and resource of the present and the source of the future.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, everything I have is from you. My family, fortune and finance belongs to you. Let me never cling to my resources, as the resources might dry up but the source never does. Amen
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