Bible and open with me to the book of Proverbs
where we have been studying together through
the fall God's wisdom for our world We have been
hearing and reading a great deal about the work
of the transition team for President -elect Clinton
in putting together the new administration That
will take office in just a few weeks As one hears
of the complex details of putting this all together,
one's mind is boggled with how many positions
have to be filled and how many references have
to be checked. Planning ahead is important in
a government, and it seems as though we have
a president -elect who is aware of what it means
to plan. To fail to plan ahead, is to live by
chance. It is not to live by faith, as some people
think. I've heard people say, well, I don't plan
anything. I live by faith. To fail to plan ahead
is not to live by faith. Faith and planning are
not mutually exclusive. Consider the fact that
God Himself has left nothing to chance. but has
established purposes and a plan which will be
fully realized in the end. In the book of Proverbs,
God counsels us to plan ahead. I invite you to
look at several texts beginning in chapter 5,
verses 6 through 8. God tells us to follow the
example of the ant. Proverbs 5 verse 6, Go to
the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and
be wise. It has no commander, no overseer or
ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest. And so we have
this small little insect that plans ahead for
its future. Perhaps you've heard of honey ants.
Honey ants are remarkable in that they are able
to survive in difficult times by their dependence
upon certain members in their group with the
assignment of becoming honey pots. While these
particular ants in the colony are known for their
social stomachs, what they actually do is to
eat much more than they can possibly use until
they become like little round berries. Kind of
reminds you of after Christmas dinner, doesn't
it? And they're hardly able to move. Then when
the food and the water in the colony is nearly
depleted, they sustain the whole colony by providing
and dispensing out of their own stomachs what
is needed for everyone else. Ants are amazing
creatures. They plan ahead. God says that we
ought to learn a lesson from them. Look in chapter
11 now, and verse 14, where we have this instruction,
for lack of guidance, a nation falls. But many
advisors make victory sure. The word guidance
here in the Hebrew language is steering, for
lack of steering. a nation falls. You have the
picture of the ship of state that needs to have
someone at the helm and that pilot, that helmsman,
then guides the ship of state to its destiny.
In order to do that he has to be looking out
in front and planning ahead. And so God tells
us here that it's important in the affairs of
a nation, of a state, to have leadership that
plans ahead. Chapter 20 in verse 8. Excuse me,
verse 18. Make plans by seeking advice if you
wage war, obtain guidance. It is important in
waging war to plan ahead. Victory, you see, depends
not merely upon the strength or courage of the
soldiers. but upon the strategy and the tactics
that are outlined by the leadership. Leadership,
the generals and so on must plan ahead. There
was a great deal of planning that went into the
exercise in Somalia which is accomplishing a
wonderful deed of human good. Planning was necessary
though. There were those who felt that the military
ought to rush here or rush there. And yet they
wisely stuck by the plan. They planned ahead.
Whether it be a humanitarian effort or it be
war itself, planning ahead is essential. Then
chapter 24 verse 27 brings it more close to home.
It says, finish your outdoor work and get your
fields ready. After that, build your house. What
he's saying is get your fields planted. Get all
of your work done that needs to be done and then
get married and start your family In an agricultural
setting you can understand what that means in
our setting today what it means simply is plan
ahead Don't just run out and elope Now some of
you are ready to do that today. I know if only
you had someone to elope with but He says don't
do that says you must plan ahead And once you
have things prepared, once you're ready, then
proceed to establish your family, your home.
So in Proverbs, God counsels us to plan ahead.
The wise person learns to do that knowing that
God will guide ultimately to what is best. Now
I want us to consider three lessons this morning
from Proverbs. about planning ahead. The first
one deals with planning ahead and its benefits.
Planning ahead does produce benefits, and in
Proverbs we see at least three of them that are
called to our attention. The first one is found
in chapter 21 and verse 5, where it says, The
plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely
as haste leads to poverty. You see the contrast.
But he points out the fact that if we plan ahead
it brings us profit or as the New American Standard
puts it, advantage. One benefit of planning ahead
is that the person who plans ahead has the advantage.
Some of you like to play checkers or chess or
other kinds of board games where strategy is
important. And you know how significant it is
when one person plans ahead and the other just
moves wherever he desires at the moment. Inevitably
the person who has a game plan, the person who
thinks ahead a few moves at least will have the
distinct advantage over the one who merely moves
at a whim. And so the one who in the issues of
life plans ahead has a definite advantage. over
those who live life carelessly and without much
thought. If you drop down a few verses to verse
20, you'll see a second benefit to planning ahead.
He says, in the house of the wise are stores
of choice, food, and oil, but a foolish man devours
all he has. Here we see that planning ahead brings
the benefit of abundance. Security is due to
ample preparations made in advance. Why does
the wise man have food and oil? Because he plans
ahead and he stores it up. I would suppose we
could go to the food closet or shelf that some
of you have in your homes or your apartments.
And there we would see food stored up for this
next week's menus, right? Or at least coupons
for McDonald's and Burger King for the next week.
You're planning ahead. But what happens when
you plan ahead? Well, it tends to bring you abundance.
Whereas the person who has no plan simply lives
in what he has at the moment and everything runs
through his fingers and he has nothing in the
end. It pays to plan ahead, it brings us abundance.
And then in verse 22, it says, a wise man attacks
the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold
in which they trust. What is the advantage here?
What is the benefit of planning ahead? It brings
accomplishment. Accomplishment. Here the man
who is attacking the city plans ahead, he's wise,
and the result is that he overcomes it. Now,
we can see this in other military metaphors in
the book of Proverbs, but we'll just let it rest
at this point that victory, accomplishment, getting
what you need, what you want, takes place when
you plan ahead. So, planning ahead has its benefits.
Learn that lesson and you will be wise. Secondly,
we want to look at planning ahead and its steps.
Planning ahead involves a certain process. And
in the book of Proverbs we see most of these
laid out for us. Look in Proverbs chapter 18
and verse 13. The NIV puts it this way, casting
the lot settles disputes and keeps strong opponents
apart. Listen to the living Bible's paraphrase
of this. It says, what a shame, yes, how stupid
to decide before knowing the facts. You see,
planning ahead has certain steps, the first one
of which is getting the facts. I think I read
the wrong verse, didn't I? Yes, I did. Verse
13 says, he who answers before listening, that
is his folly and his shame. Getting the facts
is step number one in planning ahead. But getting
the facts is hard work, but it's important. We
have to research and pull together the pertinent
information of whatever is before us. There are
some people who say, my mind is made up, don't
confuse me with facts. But folks, facts is where
we have to begin. We have to get the information
necessary so that we can plan getting the facts.
The second step is seeking counsel. Chapter 15,
verse 22. Plans fail for lack of counsel, but
with many advisors they succeed. Chapter 20,
verse 18, says a very similar thing. It is a
wise thing to share your ideas, your facts, your
plans with others. Get their counsel. We have
had a family or two in our church who have made
the decision without asking anybody else what
they thought about it to relocate. And when they
relocated, they found that they were a distinct
disadvantage to certain things in their lives.
Had they thought through the issues and sought
the wisdom and counsel of others, they would
not have perhaps not have made the decision they
did. It is important to see what others think,
trusted people, godly people. Bounce your ideas
off of them. That's the second step in making
your plan. The third step is to define the options.
After you've got the information, you've bounced
that information off of other people and gotten
their ideas, you begin to write down your options.
Option number one, option number two, option
number three perhaps. And once you have defined
the option, the fourth step is to make a decision.
In light of all of the factors involved, in light
of the counsel that you've received, in light
of what God is saying within your heart, make
a decision. For some people, that's the hardest
part of the plan. Actually coming to the point
of making a decision to do something. But it's
essential. And then the fifth step is setting
the goals. Once you've made a decision, you say,
this is what I'm going to do, then you have to
establish goals that will help you to get to
that point. In our staff planning here at the
church, we have four qualities that we try to
put into our goals in planning ahead. First of
all, the quality of being specific. It's not
enough simply to say, we want to have more people
in our small churches. It has to be more specific
than that. We want to see our small churches
grow by 10 % or 5 % or 50%, whatever. It needs
to be specific. It's not enough to say, well,
I would like to build another home and move.
Well, make it a little more specific than that.
What kind of a home do you want? What do you
want in the place? How far do you want it to
be from work from church from the place you shot?
Be specific the second quality that we try to
include our planning here is make it attainable
Don't set it so far out there. You can't possibly
attain it make it challenging But make it something
that can be attained with hard work thirdly make
it measurable Put into the the the goal that
you're establishing some elements that will make
it possible to measure. We will do so and so
by March 1 of this year. Or by the end of the
summer, we will be here or there. Make it measurable
so you know how you're doing toward the goal.
And finally, make it compatible with the mission
of our church. Does this fit in with what we
say we are as a church and what we want to do
as a church? There are lots of things that we
might do as a church, but we have to examine
our goals in the light of is it compatible with
the mission. And so we call these our SMAC. Our
SMAC requirements for our goals. Specific, attainable,
or measurable, attainable, and compatible. Now,
you may want to use those or some other system,
but in setting your goals, understand that you
are acting by faith. You're not trying to run
ahead of God. You're saying, God, these are the
plans. These are the goals I believe you would
want me to establish. And now I ask you to lead
me, to guide me. Now, if we fail to plan ahead,
It usually leads to failure and to shame. We
can't simply say, God, you lead me today. I have
no plans whatsoever. Or we can't say, I want
to do this with my life. I want to become that.
I want to reach this goal. There have to be plans
made. The story is told about the city leaders
of Edinburgh, Scotland who decided that they
wanted to build a Parthenon in Edinburgh, similar
to the one in Athens. And so they set out to
build this modern day Acropolis there in the
city of Edinburgh. They wanted to do something
that would rival the beauty of ancient Greece,
but the sad story is that the project has never
yet been completed because the city ran out of
money to do it. They had an idea, they set a
goal, but you see they didn't plan how they were
going to get there and the result is really failure
on the part of the city. It's a shame to them
rather than a glory. Planning ahead and its steps.
Put these steps into your planning and you will
see God bless you. That brings us to the third
thing that we want to observe in Proverbs about
planning ahead and that is planning ahead in
God's part. in the whole thing. The Living Bible
in Proverbs 19, 21 puts it this way, man proposes,
but God disposes. I don't think that was original
with the Living Bible. That statement's been
around a long time, but it simply says man proposes,
God disposes. And that's true. There are three
realizations we need to make in our lives regarding
God's part in our planning ahead. First, we must
realize that our planning begins with God. Our
planning begins with God. In Proverbs 16 and
verse 3, it says, commit to the Lord whatever
you do and your plans will succeed. This word
commit in the Hebrew means to roll over or to
roll onto. So what he's saying here is that we
are to roll onto the Lord whatever we want to
do. We're to commit it to Him. And as we do that,
then our plans will succeed. Dr. Robert Alden,
a professor at Denver Seminary writes, a number
of Proverbs teach how the Lord frustrates the
plans of the wicked. In contrast to that, We
see here how the Lord encourages the plans of
the righteous. The crucial thing is choosing
the right plan, one which God will sanction and
bless. I know that there are people who say,
well, we can't even count on tomorrow, so why
should we plan? Doesn't Proverbs say somewhere
that we can't even boast about tomorrow, we don't
know what a day may bring forth? Yes. That's
Proverbs 27 .1, and that's true. We can't boast
in it. But God intends for us to plan for it.
God wants us to commit our plans to Him. In the
most famous two verses probably of Proverbs,
we read, Trust in the Lord. Lean not to your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs
3, 5, and 6. It begins by saying, Trust in the
Lord. and lean not to your own understanding.
That is not a verse against planning. But it
means simply don't rely solely upon your plans.
Trust in the Lord. Realize that your planning
must begin with Him. In all your ways, as you
look ahead, as you plan for the future, in all
your ways acknowledge Him. The word acknowledge
there means be in fellowship with Him. Let those
plans come out of that knowing of God in your
life. He will direct your paths. He will make
your paths straight. Well, I can hear someone
say, yes, but doesn't James say that we're not
to plan for the future somewhere? Well, let me
show you a passage in James that is sometimes...
used this way in James chapter 4, verse 13. Now
listen, you who say, today or tomorrow we will
go to this or that city, spend a year there,
carry on business and make money. Now James is
quoting somebody who's planning ahead. And he's
going to rebuke this person. This person is saying,
We're going to go to the city. We're going to
spend this amount of time there. You see it's
rather specific We're going to carry on business,
and we're going to make money Well, then James
says why do you why? You do not even know what
will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You're
a mist that appears for a little while and then
vanishes Instead you ought to say if it is the
Lord's will we will live or do this or that.
As it is, you boast and brag all such boasting
as evil. So you look carefully and you see what
James is saying. He's saying that we can't boast
or brag we're going to do this or that. We plan
ahead and we say we're going to go to this church,
we're going to live there for a year, we're going
to do this or that and make money if the Lord
wills. And that's the point I'm making. Our planning...
must begin with God. Our planning must begin
with Him. As we are in fellowship with God, we
commit our plans to the Lord. We roll those plans
onto Him and the Lord will bring success to those
plans. There's a second realization that we must
come to as we think about our planning ahead
and God's part in it. We must realize that God
is bigger than our plans. Not only that our plans
begin with God, but God is bigger than our plans
Going back to Proverbs again to the 16th chapter
verse 9 It says in his heart a man plans his
course, but the Lord determines his steps It's
the Lord ultimately who will give prosperity
to our plans Who will direct the actual steps
we take? whatever we have laid out before us.
Chapter 19 verse 21. Many are the plans in a
man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that
prevails. We need to realize that God is bigger
than our plans. Chapter 21 verse 30. There is
no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed
against the Lord. Sometimes look at what God
says in Isaiah 46 and verse 10. Or compare with
that Psalm 33 verses 10 and 11. You see the same
truth. God is bigger than what man plans. Now
listen, that is not threatening. That's reassuring.
Because it means that we may lay our plans out
and we may, even in the most sincere of hearts,
make a mistake. God is bigger than our plans.
So we begin our planning with God, and then we
know that God is bigger than whatever we've laid
out, and if we've erred, God is going to direct
us another way. We can trust Him. The third realization
is that we must realize our plans succeed only
with God. Chapter 21, verse 31. The horse is
made ready for the day of battle, but victory
rests with the Lord. You can plan ahead and get
your horse all ready. You can get the armament
on the horse. You can get your weaponry out.
You can get ready to go into battle and plan
ahead all you want, but victory rests with the
Lord. So the third realization is that our plans
succeed only with God. Our planning begins with
God. We realize God is bigger than our plans
and ultimately when they succeed it is only with
God and that's good. Because then it means that
God gets the glory for it. And I don't think
we really want our plans to succeed without His
blessing, do we? Indeed one of the more harsh
judgments God can bring on us is to allow us
to succeed without Him. To the children of Israel,
of the children of Israel, it says in Psalm 106
verse 15, so He gave them what they asked for,
but sent leanness to their souls. Sometimes we
ask God for some rather stupid things, and we
think we really want them, and we lay plans for
those things. If God allows us to have those,
it's really judgment. And so it's reassuring
to know that God is bigger than our plans, that
they'll succeed only with His blessings. Right
now, Grace Church Roosevelt is laying plans for
the future. Change is in the offing for us. The
first step has been one that's been in place
now for a number of months. It really was kicked
off about a year ago when we began with the survey
of our church family, getting the facts. Where
do our church families live? What is our strength
in our ministry? How does our church family feel
about certain things? And we accumulate a great
deal of information through that survey. There
have been other facts that have been gathered
over the recent months relating to various possibilities
of our future. Getting of facts is going to continue.
as we move into January and February as we organize
some small group meetings in which everyone in
the church will be invited to come and participate
to give thoughts and ideas and share together
and pray together. That will also be the part,
the beginning of step two, which is seeking counsel
as we seek the counsel of God's people and we
seek the counsel of one another regarding what
God wants for us in the future. Recently, The
elders voted to hire an architect who is laying
some groundwork of getting some facts out there
and giving us counsel regarding his thinking
about our future. Grace Church Roseville is seeking
to put into practice what we've talked about
this morning in planning ahead. But it's important
not only for us as a church to do it, it's important
for us as individuals to do it. We need to plan
ahead, but marry our plans to God's purposes.
When we do that, our plans will surely succeed
in the end. They will surely succeed. We may
not arrive just exactly where we thought we would,
but it'll be a better place. Plans that are made
with God's blessing will ultimately achieve God's
best. What is it that you need to plan ahead
about? Well, it's likely that some of us need
to plan ahead regarding our financial future
And I say that because it's probably the first
one that comes to mind in our culture Because
it is important. Are you planning ahead in your
financial future? We have people in our church
who are doing that for a living helping others
plan ahead It's important for all of us to lay
out a strategy and a plan for our financial future.
But there are some things, frankly, more important
than that. For example, how are we going to transmit
our family values to our children? That doesn't
just happen automatically. We have to have some
kind of a plan to do that, some kind of a strategy
that mom and dad agree on as to how that can
happen. Maybe it's in the area of dreams and
desires that you have for your future Where you
want to go to college? Perhaps it's an anniversary
trip that you and your wife are considering when
you get to that big 25 or that 50 mark Perhaps
it's starting a business in the next year or
two you have dreams and desires that are bubbling
inside of you These are all important things
in which we need to plan ahead just like God
tells us to in his word But probably the most
important of all is that we plan ahead regarding
our own demise Because you see someday all of
us are going to leave this world We need to plan
ahead for that. And if there's any aspect of
life that our culture tends to ignore and try
to pretend doesn't happen, it's that. What happens
when this life is done? Well that can be approached
in a number of different ways. There are some
practical aspects, for example. Have you ever
thought about your funeral and what you want
to happen there? You say, oh, if I do that, it
may happen sooner than it might otherwise. Oh,
really? Well, who's in charge of that? Several
years ago, someone gave me a form for planning
a funeral ahead of time. And we've had a few
people, only a few in our church, who've done
that. If you'd like to have a copy of that, I'd
be glad to give it to you. It simply helps you
think through some of the things that you might
like to see take place. at your funeral service
so that you can say there what you want to have
said. And people can participate that you want
to have participate if they're still living.
Have you ever thought about that? We have one
lady in our church who's already gone over with
me who she wants to sing and the songs she wants
to have sung and so on. Now she did that several
years ago, if that's any encouragement to you.
It didn't seem to hasten her death. But of course
the most important aspect of planning for our
own demise is what happens to our soul after
we die. Where we're going to spend eternity.
Are you planning ahead about that? I say I don't
think we can really know. We just kind of show
up there at the gates and God is going to do
with us what he wants to do. That's wrong. That's
wrong. You see we prepare ahead of time for that.
We have to plan ahead. Say, well, how do I do
that? The only way to plan ahead is by doing
it the way God says to do it. And that is by
receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Because you see, that cares for the issues that
now separate you and God. The issues of sin in
your life, rebellion, hostility toward God, living
self -sufficiently and independently of God.
For when we receive Jesus Christ, we bow the
knee and we recognize that our sin separates
us. We recognize our independence is really wicked
and we acknowledge that we need Him. When we
take that step, then we are preparing ourselves
for then. That's the first step. There are steps
after that. What kind of an entrance will we
have in the heaven? Will it be an abundant entrance
as Peter talks about? A glorious entrance? Or
will we simply get there without much to show
for our lives? I don't see Ruth Jordan here today,
but Ruth comes to our church when she's home
from ministry. She and her wife Jean have devoted
their lives to missionary work through HCJB in
Quito, Ecuador. And Ruth goes down there each
winter. I can't imagine why. She leaves Minnesota
to go to Ecuador each winter. She has a good
purpose. She's serving the Lord there. She told
me something a couple of weeks ago I never heard
before regarding the five missionaries who were
martyred in Ecuador back in 1956. Some of you
remember the story of Jim Elliott, Nate Saint,
and the other three men, Ed McCauley and so on,
who laid down their lives on a sandy beach beside
a river as they attempted to evangelize the Aukka
Indians. And the story that Ruth heard just two
years ago, and it came to her through Marge Saint,
Nate Saint's sister, who has lived there all
these years and worked with the Aukkas. The story
finally came from the Oka people about what happened
that day. As the men were down on the beach actually
going through the process of killing the missionaries,
the women of the tribe were standing on a ridge
back up where they could see the action. And
across the river, and on a ridge on the other
side of the river, they saw a band of people
appear. And these were very strong, powerful
people that they saw. But they were singing.
And they were playing instruments and making
a great deal of noise. And the women were absolutely
terrified of these people that they saw on the
other side of the river. And once the men had
been killed, all five of them, the band disappeared.
So who were they? Well, a reception committee
that God sent to welcome home the martyrs. They
were angels who gave to these men an abundant
entrance into the eternal kingdom of God because
of their willingness to lay down there. Listen,
they had plans made. They carefully laid their
plans as to how they were going to approach the
Indians, but in the end they said what the Lord
wants. We're willing, if God wants, to lay down
our lives to reach these Indians, and they did.
Their plans weren't fully realized as they had
laid them out. God had something better in mind.
God is bigger than our plans. And in the end,
when God has His way, there's victory. There's
success. There's accomplishment. And don't you
think there was accomplishment in those men,
in the way God brought their lives to a fruitful
conclusion. Many lives in this room this morning
undoubtedly have been touched in some way by
it. Hundreds of people have gone to the mission
field because of the testimony of those men.
And that whole tribe has been evangelized in
South America and they are sending people to
other tribes. It pays to plan ahead. And when
we plan to begin with God, and realize that God
is bigger than our plans and to know that in
the end God will bring our plans to success as
we submit them to Him. Let's pray together. What
do you need to be planning, my friend? Are you
planning for your soul's eternal welfare? Have
you trusted Christ as your Savior? If so, are
you living for Christ? Are you in fellowship
with God? Are you planning so that your life
will be meaningful for God and for eternity?
Perhaps there are other areas of your life where
God has put his finger this morning reminding
you that laying plans is important. Do it. Ask
God's direction. Begin with God. Begin this week
as you begin a new year. to lay out your plans
and to seek God's face as you do it. Father,
we thank you for your leadership in our lives.
We've been reminded this morning that your leadership
and your will does not preclude our responsibility
of planning. May we be wise people. Teach us
what it means to plan ahead. in all the areas
of life, especially the spiritual. But teach
us, too, that surrender to your will, to your
lordship in our lives, is always best. That we
can never lose or go wrong in doing that. So,
Father, if there are areas of our lives where
we need to surrender, then show that to us today.
In this hour. that we might go out from here
prepared to plan ahead and beginning with you
as Lord of our lives. With our heads bowed and
our eyes closed, I wonder